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NOV 16 1886 



GOLDEN GLEANINGS. 



A Select Miscellany. 



COMPILED BY 



DAVID HESTON 



^PYRIGH^A ( 




PHILADELPHIA: 

Jacob Smedley, 304 Arch Street. 
1886. 






o\6 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1886, by 

DAVID HESTON & SONS, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



-Thb Library 
of Congress 

Washington 



ELECTROTYPED BY 
DUNCAN 4. ROSS, PHILAOELPHI 



CAXTON PRESS OF 
SHERMAN & CO. PHILADELPHIA. 



PREFACE. 



The following pages embrace a variety of short, interesting 
Anecdotes, Sketches, &c, which will be found, it is believed, to 
be adapted to fostering an appetite for solid and profitable 
reading. Much of the matter here presented has been 
gleaned from the columns of The Tract Repository* and lays 
no claim to originality or to literary merit. It has not been 
the aim of the editor in making these selections to enforce 
distinctive or sectarian views, they being gathered originally 
from a variety of sources, and from authors differing in their 
religious profession, who have been allowed to express them- 
selves in their own language and way. It is believed, however, 
that the real value of the moral or religious lessons of instruc- 
tion inculcated, will be found to far outweigh any imperfections 
of style or objectionable modes of expression, which may be 
noticed to exist. 

D. H. 

Frankford, Phila., 1886. 

* A small monthly periodical published by the compiler of this work. 



CONTENTS 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. page. 

A Thrilling Incident 9 

The Outside Passenger 13 

The Hopeless Made Hopeful 14 

"Do Good to Them that Hate You" 17 

Uncle Benjamin's Advice 20 

Bob, the Cabin Boy 22 

Profitable Politeness 26 

Interesting Story 27 

Christian Contentment 30 

The Child Witness 31 

The Story of Colbert; " Honesty is the Best Policy" ^^ 

A Strange Funeral Sermon 36 

Indian Test of Honesty 37 

Transforming Power of Grace 38 

A Ray of Sunshine 41 

Work in Faith , 42 

Who Can Bear a Guilty Conscience 43 

Anecdote of John Collingsworth 46 

Our Defender 47 

"A Soft Answer Turneth Away Wrath" . 48 

Captain Ball's Experience, as Related by Himself 49 

Preservation from Danger 56 

The Learned Professor and the Cobbler 57 

"But the Greatest of these is Charity" 60 

The Converted Actress 63 

Stick to your Bush 65 

The Orphan Boy 66 

Where did He Get that Law? 68 

The Widow's Son and His Bible 71 

A Word in Season . , 72 

Ingratitude 74 

Conversion at Sea 75 

The Preaching of George Fox 79 

A Railway Incident , 83 

What One Sin Will Do 80 

Remarkable Conduct of a Little Girl 8^ 

Letter from Mother to Son, upon Completion of her 90TH Year, 87 

Pacific Policy of William Penn 89 

A Bible in a Hotel 90 

The Young Prodigal; or "That's Thee, Jim" 92 

"Quench not the Spirit" 94 

The Foraging Party 97 

Exercise of Faith . 98 



Return of the Prodigal 103 

I Knew I Did Wrong 105 

Incidents and Reflections 107 

A Backslider's Sin . in 

They shall not Blush for their Father 112 

A Work of Grace 113 

John Woolman 116 

Noble Conduct 117 

Anecdote of C. G. Steinhofer 119 

Married without Shoes 121 

Exhortation of a Mexican Indian to His Son 122 

Ex-President Jefferson and the Cooper's Shop 123 

Agnes' Lost Money 124 

Incidents in the Life of Oliver Heywood 126 

The Story of President Garfield's Mother 130 

Anecdote of Abraham Lincoln 132 

The Indian's Reproof . . . . 134 

Anecdote of John Fletcher, of Madeley 135 

A Dance Postponed 137 

Satan's Responsibility 138 

The Russian Tailor 139 

Help Sally to Count Forty 141 

Heaping Coals of Fire 142 

Begin at Matthew , 144 

A Tired Mother's Victory 145 

The Town Clerk of Ephesus 147 

PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

Providence Directing 149 

A Particular Providence 151 

A Remarkable Deliverance 154 

A Merchant Saved from Bankruptcy 159 

Instructive Incidents 160 

A Providential Deliverance 162 

A Collision Averted . . . 163 

Providence and Potatoes 165 

Anecdotes of Quincey Maynard 166 

Succored from Distress : 168 

Providentially Directed Sermons 169 

"Ask, and Ye Shall Receive" 171 

Special Providence 173 

Wonderful Deliverance 174 

Larks Sent to the Starving 175 

"Send Provisions to Caleb" 176 

"The Lord Helps" 177 

Remarkable Instance of Providential Deliverance 179 

God's Providence in the Sea 180 



"I Have Just Met with a Wonderful Manifestation of Divine 

Providence" 181 

Providential Waking 183 

The Value of Premonitions 184 

PRAYER. 

Remarkable Answer to Prayer 187 

A Prayer-answering God 189 

A Duelist's Praying Wife 191 

Answer to Prayer 193 

The Locust Plague and Prayer 194 

Answered Prayer 196 

The Boy's Prayer and the Waterspout 198 

Singular Answers to Prayer 199 

Pray in Fair Weather 200 

The Indian Girl, Hannah 202 

The Starving Captain's Prayer 204 

The Children's Cow Restored 205 

The Wife's Prayer 206 

A Mother's Prayer 207 

A Sister's Prayer 208 

The Captain's Prayer 210 

Praying Mary 212 

DREAMS. 

Dreams 215 

Captain Yonnt's Dream , 219 

Warning by a Dream 220 

ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

The Happy Negro 223 

Uncle Johnson 226 

The Judge and the Poor African Woman 234 

Uncle Tom Mayes 237 

Happy Nancy's Secret, or Confidence in God 239 

My Colored Washerwoman 241 

A Slave's Prayer • . . 242 

Old Aunt Sally 245 

Old Susan 247 

Thirty Years Ago 251 

Uncle Harry 256 

ANECDOTES OF INDIANS. 

Anecdotes of Indians 263 

Poor Sarah 266 

INTEMPERANCE. 

Something for Drinking Men to Read 273 

Blessings of Temperance 275 



Who is Responsible? 277 

The Drunkard's Girls 278 

The Pint of Ale 279 

How to Break the Chain 281 

Money Well Expended 282 

My Experience . . . * 284 

Thirty Years a Drunkard 285 

Effects of Temperance 287 

Story of the Engineer 288 

A Doctor's Story . 291 

Into Bondage and Out of It 293 

The Two Pledges 295 

One Young Man's "No" 297 

A Child's Influence 299 

Can God Destroy the Appetite? 300 

"Stand Out From the Danger" 303 

Saved by His Children 304 

"I Mean Business" 305 

INFIDELITY. 

The Death-bed of an Awakened Infidel 307 

An Infidel Strangely Converted 309 

A Devoted Pastor 311 

The Astonished Infidel, or the Power of the Bible 313 

An Unbeliever's Death -bed 315 

SWEARING. 

The Profane Swearer 319 

Warnings to the Wicked 320 

Signal Lights 322 

Incidents and Reflections 323 

A True Incident 327 

The Swearer Reproved 328 

LYING. 

The Truth at All Hazards 331 

Lie Never 334 

STEALING 

A Thief Caught in His Own Snare 337 

John Kane and the Robbers 339 

The Clergyman and the Burglar 340 

The Lady and the Robbkr 342 

TOBACCO. 

Effects of the Use of Tobacco 345 

An Original Anecdote for Students 346 

A Bad Fire 347 

Tobacco . . 34 8 

Tobacco Cure '....'. 349 



GOLDEN GLEANINGS, 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES, 



A THRILLING INCIDENT. 



IN THE winter of 1870, I had occasion to go from Green 
Bay to Chicago, on the North-western Railway. At 
Oshkosh we were joined by a delegation of lawyers, on 
their way to Madison, the capital, to attend the legislature, then 
in session. They were all men of more than usual intellect, 
and of exceptional character. Two were ex-judges of the 
circuit court, and one I had seen chairman of the Young - Men's 
Christian Association. The party found seats near together, 
and after the first salutations were over, and the news duly 
discussed, began to look about for means to pass away the time. 
After awhile some one proposed a game of cards. No sooner 
said than done. Two seats were turned apart so as to face 
each other, a cushion improvised for a table, and three of our 
lawyers, including; the chairman of the Young Men's Christian 
Association, and a Chicago runner on good terms with them, 
were soon deep in the mysteries of a game of euchre. 

I was surprised to see Christian gentlemen and judges of 
law and equity ; leaders of society, makers of public sentiment, 
lawgivers for a great State, directors of public morals, supposed 



io SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

to be public exemplars of all that is good, and guides to the 
young, thus setting publicly their seal of approval to a most 
dangerous and evil practice. To be sure they played for stakes 
no higher than the cigars for the party; but it seems to me 
that in the eyes of all discreet persons, this does not change 
the act nor lessen the danger of its example, but rather height- 
ens it; as from the less to the greater is the invariable course 
of crime. But I did not intend to moralize on paper, but was 
about to say that while I was filled with such thoughts as these, 
one of the party grew tired of the game, and our remaining 
judge was invited to take his place. I saw the blood mount 
in an honest blush of disapproval to his manly face, and he 
hesitated and drew back. But the game had become interest- 
ing, and his excited companions urged him. " Come, Judge, 
take a hand," they cried, "we can't do without you." So the 
judge slowly rose from his seat, inwardly condemning the act, 
as I evidently saw, and stepping forward took a seat among the 
players, and the game went on. 

I had noticed an old lady in a seat to the rear of the 
players, who had got on board at Menasha, I believe. Gray 
and bent with age she had sat abashed, and, with eyes closed, 
seemed asleep most of the time, until the train, stopping at 
Oshkosh, took on board the company of lawyers. She then 
underwent a change and became greatly interested in the 
company, looking often from one to the other as if she recog- 
nized them all, or was trying to recall their faces. When the 
game of cards was started, she became very restless, would 
hitch uneasily about in her seat, take up the hem of her faded 
apron and nervously bite the threads. Once or twice I thought 
she wiped her eyes under her "Shaker bonnet," but could not 
tell. She acted so strangely, I became more interested in her 
than in the players, and watched her closely. She got up after 
a time and tottered forward, holding on to the seats as she 

passed. She brushed against Judge in passing, but he 

had become interested in the game and did not notice her. 
Reaching the water-tank at last, she drank a cup of water and 
took a seat near the door with her back to the players. But 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. n 

she did not long remain there; rising again with difficulty, she 
tottered back toward her former seat, but reaching the players, 
she paused directly in front of them, and now, greatly excited, 
threw back her bonnet from her face and looked around the 
company. Her action at once arrested their attention, and 
pausing in their play, they all looked up inquiringly. 

Gazing directly in the face of Judge , she said in a 

tremulous voice: "Do you know me, Judge ?" 

"No, mother, I don't remember you," said the judge pleas- 
antly. " Where have we met ? " 

" My name is Smith," said she ; " I was with my poor boy 
three days off and on, in the court room at Oshkosh, when he 
was tried for — for — for robbing somebody, and you are the 
man who sent him to prison for ten years, and he died there 
last June." 

All faces were now sobered, and the passengers began to 
gather around and stand up all over the car to listen and see 
what was going on. She did not give the judge time to answer 
her, but becoming more and more excited, she went on : " He 
was a good boy if you did send him to jail. He helped us 
clear the farm, and when father was took sick and died he did 
all the work, and we were getting along right smart, till he 
took to going to town and got to playing keards and drinking ; 
and then, somehow, he didn't like to work after that, but used 
to stay out often till mornin', and then he'd sleep so late, and I 
couldn't wake him when I knov/ed he'd bin out so late the 
night before. And then the farm kinder run down, and then 
we lost the team ; one of them got killed when he'd bin to 
town one awful cold night. He staid late and I suppose they 
got cold standin' out, and got skeered and broke loose and 
run most home, but run agin the fence and a stake run into 
one of 'em, and when we found it the next morning it was 
dead, and the other was standin' under the shed. And so after 
awhile he coaxed me to let him sell the farm and buy a house 
and lot in the village, and he'd work at carpenter work. And 
so I did, as we couldn't do nothin' on the farm. But he grew 
worse than ever, and after awhile he couldn't get any work, 



12 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

and wouldn't do anything but gamble and drink all the time. 
I used to do everything I could to get him to quit and be a 
good, industrious boy agin', but he used to get mad after awhile, 
and once he struck me, and then in the morning I found he 
had got what little money there was left from the farm, and 
had run off. After that I got along as well as I could, cleanin' 
house for folks and washin', but I didn't hear nothing of him 
for four or five years ; but when he got arrested and was took 
up to Oshkosh for trial, he writ to me." 

By this time there was not a dry eye in the car and the cards 
had disappeared. The old lady herself was weeping silently 
and speaking in snatches. But recovering herself, she went on : 

" But what could I do ? I sold the house and lot to get 
money to hire a lawyer, and I believe he is here somewhere," 

looking around. " Oh, yes, there he is, Mr. ," pointing to 

Lawyer , who had not taken part in the play. "And this 

is the man, I am sure, who argued agin him," pointing to 

Mr. , the district attorney. "And you, Judge , sent 

him to prison for ten years. I s'pose it was right, for the poor 
boy told me that he really did rob the bank ; but he said he 
must have been drunk, for they had all been playing keards 
most all night and drinking. But, oh ! dear, it seems to be 
kinder as though if he hadn't got to playing keards he might 
a been alive yet. But when I used to tell him it was wrong 
and bad to play, he used to say, 'Why, mother, everybody 
plays now. I never bet only for the candy or cigars, or some- 
thing like that.' And when we heard that the young folks 
played keards down to Mr. Culver's donation party, and that 
Squire Ring was goin' to get a billiard table for his young 
folks to play on at home, I couldn't do nothing at all with him. 
We used to think it was awful to do that way, when I was young, 
but it jist seems to me as if everybody nowadays was going 
wrong into something or other. But may be it isn't right for 
me to talk to you Judge, in this way ; but it jist seemed to me 
as if the very sight of them keards would kill me, Judge ; I 
thought if you only knew how I felt, you wouldn't play on so ; 
and then to think, right here before all these young folks. May 



SKE TCHES A ND AN EC DO TES. 1 3 

be, Judge, you don't know how younger folks, especially boys, 
look up to such as you ; and then I can't help thinking, that 
if them as ought to know better than to do so, and them as is 
higher larnt, and all that, wouldn't set sich examples, my poor 
Tom would be alive and caring for his poor old mother ; but 
now, there ain't any of my family left but me and my poor 
little gran' chile, my dead darter's, little girl, and we are going 
to stop with my brother in Illinoy." 

Tongue of man or angel never preached a more eloquent 
sermon than that gray, withered old lady, trembling with old 
age, excitement, and fear that she was doing wrong. I can't 
recall half she said, as she, poor, lone, beggared widow, stood 
before those noble-looking men, and pleaded the cause of the 
rising generation. The look they bore as she poured forth 
her sorrowful tale, was indescribable. To say that they looked 
like criminals at the bar would be a faint description. I can 
imagine how they felt. The old lady tottered to her seat, and 
taking her little grandchild in her lap, hid her face on her 
neck. The little one stroked her gray hair with one hand and 
said, " Don't cry, ganma ; don't cry, ganma." Eyes unused to 
weeping were red for many a mile on that journey. And I can 
hardly believe that one who witnessed that scene ever touched 
a card again. It is but just to say, that when the passengers 
came to themselves they generously responded to the Judge, 
who, hat in hand, silently passed through her little audience. 



THE OUTSIDE PASSENGER. 



SOME years ago a young lady, who was going into a north- 
ern county, took a seat in a stage-coach. For many miles 
she rode alone ; but there w T as enough to amuse her in 
the scenery through which she passed, and in the pleasing 
anticipations that occupied her mind. She had been engaged 
as governess for the grandchildren of an Earl, and was now 
traveling to his seat. At mid-day the coach stopped at an inn, 
at which dinner was provided, and she alighted and sat down 



H SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

at the table. An elderly man followed and sat down also. The 
young lady arose, rang the bell, and addressing the waiter, 
said, " There is an outside passenger; I cannot dine with an 
outside passenger." The stranger bowed, saying, " I beg your 
pardon, madam, I can go into another room," and immediately 
retired. The coach soon afterward resumed its course, and the 
passengers their places. At length the coach stopped at the 
gate leading to the castle to which the young lady was going ; 
but there was not such prompt attention as she expected. All 
eyes seemed directed to the outside passenger, who was pre- 
paring to dismount. She beckoned, and was answered, "As 
soon as we have attended to his lordship we will come to you." 
A few words of explanation ensued, and, to her dismay, she 
found that the outside passenger, with whom she had thought 
it beneath her to dine, was not only a nobleman, but that very 
nobleman in whose family she had hoped to be an inmate. 
What could she do ? How could she bear the interview ? 
She felt really ill, and the apology she sent for her non-appear- 
ance that evening, was more than pretense. The venerable 
peer was a consistent man, and one who knew the way in which 
the Scripture often speaks of the going down of the sun. "We 
must not let the night pass thus," said he to his countess; 
"you must send for her, and we must talk to her before bed- 
time." He reasoned with the foolish girl respecting her conduct, 
insisted on the impropriety of the state of mind that it evinced, 
assured her that nothing could induce him to allow his grand- 
children to be taught such notions, refused to accept any 
apology that did not go the length of acknowledging that the 
thought was wrong ; and when the right impression seemed to 
be produced, gave her his hand. 



THE HOPELESS MADE HOPEFUL. 



NEARLY half a century ago there wandered through the 
highlands of Scotland, in summer's heat and winter's 
cold, a most wretched and forlorn creature. 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 15 

She once had a home and loving friends ; but impelled by 
evil, she broke loose from all restraint and fell into disgrace. 
She became an outcast, and the terror of even those in whose 
company she had first gone astray. Her friends gave up all 
hope, and strove to bury her memory. 

After a few years the miserable woman forsook the abodes 
of men, and lived far up among the heath-clad hills, and was 
only seen occasionally by some shepherd boy, running swiftly 
over the hills with a lamb or sheep across her shoulders ; and 
after this, a smoke rising above the low fire would show where 
she was roasting the victim she had slain. 

"Muckle Bess," as she was called, had never possessed any 
womanly grace or beauty. She was tall, stalwart and mascu- 
line in appearance and voice, and now that she dressed only in 
the clothes she could steal from the lines and barns, and lived 
almost without shelter from sun or storm, she was most forbid- 
ding in her appearance. It is little wonder that when the 
farmers' wives saw her, they were terror stricken. By her 
bitterness, her dishonesty and profaneness, she had wholly 
separated herself from her kind. Her hand was against every 
man, and every man's hand against her. 

One day as an honest cotter, whose wife had known her in 
her early days, saw her dart by his window, he spoke of it, and 
called her to come in and eat bread there. She looked at him 
an instant and cried out : " What have I to do among the pure 
and honest women, like Tybie ? I'm awa' to my only com- 
panions — the beasts on the hills ! " 

About this time, and when " Muckle Bess " was past middle 
life, there was a great awakening in the Highlands. The people 
gathered from many parishes to hear the preaching of the 
godly young men whose lips .had been touched with fire from 
God's altar, and who brought a living message from him to the 
people. 

On a certain occasion, several congregations had gathered 
on the hill-side in front of a "church" which would not hold a 
quarter of them. They were seated in groups of many hund- 
reds, with a minister to address each company. 



1 6 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

Suddenly one of these groups was startled as if by an electric 
shock. " Muckle Bess," in all the grotesqueness of her poverty, 
stood like a giant before them. The women trembled, and the 
men looked scornfully at her, as if to say : " Who hath warned 
you to flee from the wrath to come ? " 

All thought she had come to cavil and disturb ; and many a 
strong arm was held ready to put her away whenever she 
should attempt it. 

But. there she stood, head and shoulders above the speaker, 
on Avhom her wild eyes were firmly fixed. She did not move 
a muscle, but listened as if for her life. 

At length a merciful woman, braver than the others, moved 
and made room for her on the green-sward, and touched and 
beckoned her. At this unwonted civility Bess forgot herself, 
and called out in bitterness of spirit : " What ha' I to do wi' ye, 
honest Cressy Irving, I am na worthy to sit on the same ground 
wi' ye — it wad pollute ye all, gude wifes and mothers. What 
is the glorious gospel that the noble laddie is preaching to ye — 
what is it to me ? I ha' sinned awa' the day o' grace, and e'en 
the all-powerful blood has na power to cleanse me ! Look at 
me, all ye lassies o' happy homes, and see what sin has brought 
forth. O, Christ ! O, Christ ! Has it come to this, that Satan 
is stronger than ye ? That he has given the lie to thy word, 
that whosoever cometh shall in na wise be cast oot ? " 

Here the silence of death reigned over the company; and 
no one disturbed the woman in her anguish. She now ceased 
speaking to the people, and raising her weather beaten face to 
heaven, she stretched forth her brawny hands, and cried in 
tones of agony : " O, thou God o' my fathers ; O, thou God 
of bonnie Scotland that has been steeped in blood for thy 
name's sake, look on me, a wretched sinner who has scorned 
thee, and defied thee ! O, it is a fearful thing to fall into the 
hands of the livin' God ! " Then exhausted by her emotion, 
she fell fainting to the earth ; and pitiful women, who had before 
fled at her approach, now ministered to her ; and great fear fell 
on the people. 

Then the minister preached of Christ as the only way of 



SKE TCHES AND AN EC DO TES. 1 7 

access to the Father, and set Him forth in all his glory as a 
mediator ; and showed that he made him a liar who doubted 
his power to forgive all manner of sin ! He dwelt on his com- 
passion and tenderness, till all, even the poor outcast, were 
melted into tears. At length Bess cried out, in this most 
informal service : " Hear me, ye people of God ! Hear me, ye 
angels above ! Hear me, ye powers of evil, while I avow afore 
ye all, that I will e'en tak' Him at his word, and leave it there ! " 

From that time forward Bess went from farm house to cot- 
tage, from field to pasture, telling in deep solemnity what God 
was able to do for the chief of sinners. She had a welcome 
at every "ingleside," and every house where dwelt a child of 
God was her home. When offered work at the wheel or in the 
dairy, she said : " Nay, nay, I ha' na' time for that. I must e'en 
be on my way tellin' the story." 

And she told "the story" with streaming eyes; indeed, she 
was always weeping ; and once, when reminded that God had 
called his children to peace and joy, she said : "Aye, aye, that's 
here within the breast ; but how can I ever forget that I cruci- 
fied the Lord o' glory, and put him to an open shame. There 
is na time nor way to redeem the past. Let me, like Mary, 
wash his feet wi' my tears ! " 

Bess lived to prove the genuineness of her repentance. 



DO GOOD TO THEM THAT HATE YOU: 



WERE professing christians more careful to exemplify 
in all their actions, the obligation to follow this precept 
of our Saviour, there can be no doubt that the influence 
of example would have a powerful effect in their families and 
neighborhoods. It is related of a young man residing in a 
town in Massachusetts, that he had on numerous occasions 
been treated by a female acquaintance with marked unkindness 
and contempt. Neither of them moved in the upper circles of 
society; but this woman, without apparent cause, cast reproach- 
ful reflections on the young man, as though she regarded him 

B 



1 8 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

as beneath her notice; not worthy of common respect. One 
day a valuable chaise was destroyed by a runaway horse that 
had not been properly tied. She had borrowed both, and was 
required to make good the loss to the owner. This brought 
her into great distress, on account of her limited pecuniary 
resources. The noble young man resolved to return good for 
evil, and at once set about collecting money for her relief. He 
gave freely of his own means, and by active solicitation with 
others, was soon able to raise a liberal sum, and without her 
knowledge of what he had done. He appeared before her and 
modestly placed it at her disposal. She was completely bewild- 
ered. He departed without allowing time for her acknowledge- 
ment. She was quite overcome, wept like a child, and said she 
would never again be guilty of showing, as she had done, 
contempt for a fellow-creature; or of speaking reproachfully, 
or otherwise treating unkindly a brother or sister. 

Some years ago a young woman in Vermont, married a poor 
but worthy young man, contrary to her father's wish. His 
passion and resentment was so strong that he drove them from 
his doors and closed his heart against them. They removed 
to the neighborhood of Boston, where their honest industry 
was blessed with prosperity. Many years afterward the old 
man, having business in Boston, concluded to call on his 
daughter, from whom he anticipated a cold reception. On his 
return home, a neighbor, hearing where he had been, inquired 
how his daughter and her husband had treated him. " I never 
was so treated before in my life," he replied weeping. "They 
have broken my heart — they have killed me — I don't feel as 
though I could live under it." The neighbor asked if they had 
abused him. "They loved me to death, and killed me with 
kindness," said he, "I can never forgive myself for treating so 
cruelly my own daughter, who loved me so truly. I feel as if 
I should die to think how I grieved the precious child when I 
spurned her from my door. Heaven bless them, and forgive 
me my cruelty and injustice to them." 

Yes, love to enemies, is indeed calculated to change them 
into friends. " If ye love them that love you, what reward have 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 19 

ye." But the submission to the reign of the Prince of Peace 
produces a very different course from this. In our hearts to 
forgive and to love those who hate us, is indeed a great attain- 
ment, and one that is impossible in the unregenerate state. I 
have read another anecdote illustrating the same subject, with 
which I will conclude this paper. 

There was a christian in New Jersey, who had a neighbor 
of such a malevolent and savage character, as made him a 
plague and terror to those with whom he became offended. 
Forgiveness or mercy nobody expected from him. 

One day he found the hogs of his good neighbor in his corn- 
field. He drove them out, and came to their owner in a storm 
of passion, making a great complaint about the damage done 
to his crop. "If I ever see them in my corn again," said he, 
" I'll kill them — that I will ! " The good man kept calm, and 
said nothing but what was calm and good-natured in reply; 
and after the wrathful man had spent all his fury, and went off, 
much vexed to see none of the effect he wished, he shut up 
his swine at once. But, impatient for their favorite and new- 
found food, they made their escape, and got into the same 
corn-field again, without the knowledge of their owner. 

M. W. discovered them and at once attacked them with 
might and main, slaughtering three or four of them before they 
could make their retreat. Then, to cap the climax, and aggra- 
vate his neighbor's feelings to the utmost, he put the dead 
bodies on a sled or cart, and drew them over to his neighbor's 
house. He threw them down before the door, saying with 
sarcastic bitterness, "Your hogs got into my corn again, and I 
thought I would bring them home ! " 

The owner of the swine kept cool, giving no look or word 
of resentment at the injury done to him. He might have gone 
to law with his neighbor, and, perhaps, made him smart severely 
for destroying his property and insulting him as he did. But 
he thought it best to keep out of the law; and every man 
should think so, unless driven to it by a sense of duty. 

The next year he himself had a corn-field situated beside 
the road, and it so happened that his wrathful neighbor had 



20 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

some unruly swine running at large, which got into the good 
man's corn-field and committed a depredation, similar to that 
which his own swine had done in the corn-field the year before. 
He went to him and told him what mischief his vagrant swine 
had done, and requested him to shut them up. But he paid 
no attention to the request. Soon after they got into the same 
field again. The christian discovered them ; but actuated by a 
different temper and motives from his neighbor, instead of 
killing them and conveying them home dead, he caught them, 
tied their legs carefully, and drew them with his team to their 
owner's door. " Neighbor," said he, kindly, " I found your hogs 
in my corn again, and I thought I would bring them home /" 

Never was a man more completely confounded than M. W. 
He saw the wide difference between his neighbor's conduct and 
his own; he looked on the living swine, but he thought of the 
dead ones ! It was too much for him. He told his neighbor 
that he was very sorry, and that he would pay all the damages 
the hogs had done. He offered to pay him, too, for the hogs 
he had killed the year before! "No," replied the other, "I 
shall make no account of the damages your hogs have done; 
and I shall take nothing for what you did to mine. I let that 
pass." 

M. W. was completely overcome. He concluded at once* to 
yield, and retreat from a contest where such unequal odds were 
against him. He was as kind and generous to his christian 
neighbor afterward, as he was mischievous and cruel before. 



UNCLE BENJAMIN'S ADVICE. 



NOT many hours ago, I heard Uncle Benjamin discussing 
this matter to his son, who was complaining of the 
pressure. 
"Rely upon it, Sammy," said the old man as he leaned on 
his staff, with his gray locks floating in the breezes of a May 
morning, "murmuring pays no bills. I have been an observer 
these fifty years, and I never saw a man helped out of a hole 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 21 

by cursing his horses. Be as quiet as you can, for nothing will 
grow under a moving harrow, and discontent harrows the mind. 
Matters are bad, I acknowledge, but no ulcer is any the better 
for fingering. The more you groan, the poorer you grow. 

"Repining at losses is only putting pepper in a sore eye. 
Crops will fail in all soils, and we may be thankful that we 
have not a famine. Besides, I always took notice, that when- 
ever I felt the rod smartly, it was as much as to say, ' Here is 
something which you have got to learn/ Sammy, don't forget 
that your schooling is not over yet, though you have a wife 
and two children." 

"Ay," said Sammy, "you may say that, and a mother-in-law 
and two apprentices into the bargain; and I should like to 
know what a poor man can learn here, when the greatest 
scholars and lawyers are at loggerheads, and can't for their 
lives tell what has become of the hard money." 

" Softly, Sammy, I am older than you, — I have not got these 
gray hairs and crooked back without some burdens. I could 
tell you stories of the days of continental money, when my 
grandfather used to stuff a sulky-box with bills to pay for a 
yearling or a wheat fan, and when the Jersey women used 
thorns for pins, and laid their teapots away in the garret. You 
wish to know what you can learn ? You can learn these seven 
things : 

" First — That you have saved too little, and spent too much. 
I never taught you to be a miser, but I have seen you giving 
your dollars for a 'notion,' when you might have laid one-half 
aside for charity, and one-half for a rainy day. 

" Secondly — That you have gone too much upon your credit. 
I always told you credit was a shadow; it shows that there is 
a substance behind, which casts the shadow; and no wise man 
will follow the shadow any farther than he can see the sub- 
stance. You may now learn that you have followed the opinion 
and fashions of others, until you have been decoyed into the 
bag. 

" Thirdly — That you have been in too much haste to become 
rich. Slow and easy wins the race. 



22 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

" Fourthly — That no course of life can be depended upon as 
always prosperous. I am afraid the younger race of working- 
men in America have had a notion that nobody would go 
to ruin on this side of the water. Providence has secretly 
blessed us, but we have become presumptuous. 

"Fifthly — That you have not been thankful enough to God 
for his benefits in past times. 

"Sixthly — That you may be thankful that our lot is no 
worse. We might have famine, or pestilence, or war, or 
tyranny, or all together. 

"And lastly, you may learn to offer, with more understand- 
ing, the prayer of infancy, 'Give us this day our daily bread."' 



BOB, THE CABIN BOY. 



SOME years since, a vessel sailed from England with a 
captain whose habitual blasphemy, drunkenness and 
tyranny so disgusted the crew, that some of the most 
fatal consequences might have taken place, but for his sudden 
and alarming illness. The mate took charge of the ship, and 
the captain, greatly afflicted in his cabin, was left by the unani- 
mous voice of a hardened crew, to perish, He had continued 
nearly a week in this neglected state, no one venturing to visit 
him, when the heart of a poor boy on board was touched with 
his sufferings, and he determined to enter his cabin and speak 
to him. He descended the companion-ladder, and opening the 
state-room door, called out, " Captain, how are you?" A surly 
voice replied, " What's that to you ? be off" Next morning, 
however, he w T ent again. " Captain, hope you are better." 
"O, Bob, I'm very bad; been very ill all night." "Captain, 
please to let me wash your hands and face ; it will refresh you 
very much." The captain nodded assent. Having performed 
this kind office, the boy said, "Please, master, let me shave 
you." He was permitted to do this also ; and having adjusted 
the bed-clothes, he grew bolder, and proposed some tea. The 
kindness of this poor boy found the way to his heart ; and, in 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 23 

spite of all his daring, independent spirit, his bowels melted, 
and his iron face displayed the starting tear. 

The captain now declined apace : his weakness was daily 
increasing, and he became gradually convinced that he should 
not live many weeks at the farthest. Alarmed at the idea of 
death, and ignorant of the way of salvation, with a conscience 
thundering conviction to his guilty soul, he cried one morning, 
as Bob opened the state-room door and affectionately inquired, 
"Well, master, how is it with you this morning?" "Ah, Bob, 
I'm very bad; my body is getting worse and worse, but I 
should not mind that so much, were it not for my soul. O, 
Bob, what shall I do ? I'm a great sinner. I'm afraid I shall 
go to hell — I deserve it. Alas, Bob, I'm a lost man." "O, no, 
master," said the boy, "Jesus Christ can save you." " No, Bob, 
no, I cannot see the least prospect of being saved. O, what a 
sinner I have been; what will become of me?" His stony 
heart was broken, and he poured out his complaints before the 
boy, who strove all he could to comfort him, but in vain. 

One morning, as soon as the boy appeared, the captain said, 
" O, Bob, I've been thinking of a Bible. I know there is not 
one in the cabin ; go forward and see if you can find one in the 
men's chests."- The boy succeeded, and the poor dying man 
beheld him enter with tears of joy. "Ah, Bob, that will do, 
that will do ; you must read to me, and I shall soon know 
whether such a wicked man as I am can be saved, and how it 
is to be done. Now, Bob, sit down on my chest, and read to 
me out of that blessed book." "Where shall I read master?" 
"I do not know, Bob. I never read it myself; but pick out 
some places that speak about sinners and salvation!' " Well, 
master, then I'll take the New Testament; you and I shall 
understand it better, for as my poor mother used to say, there 
are not so many hard words there." The boy read for two 
hours, while the captain, stretching his neck over the bed place, 
listened with the eagerness of a man on the verge of eternity. 
Every word conveyed light to his mind, and his astonished 
soul soon beheld sin as he had never seen it before. The 
justice of God in his eternal ruin struck him with amazing 



24 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

force ; and though he had heard of a Saviour, still the great 
difficulty of knowing how he could be saved appeared a mys- 
tery unfathomable. He ruminated a great part of the night on 
some passages Bob read, but they only served to depress his 
spirits and terrify his soul. 

The next morning, when the boy entered the state-room, he 
exclaimed, " O, Bob, I shall never live to reach the land. I am 
dying very fast ; you will soon have to cast me overboard ; 
but all that is nothing ; my soul, my poor soul. Ah, Bob, my 
dear lad, what shall become of my soul ? Oh, I shall be lost 
forever. Can't you pray ? " " No, master, I never prayed in 
my life, any more than the Lord's prayer my mother taught 
me." " O, Bob, pray for me : go down on your knees, and cry 
for mercy ; do, Bob, God will bless you for it. O, kneel down 
and pray for your poor wicked captain." The boy hesitated, 
the master urged ; the lad wept, the master groaned, " God be 
merciful to me a sinner." Both cried greatly. "O, Bob, for 
God's sake kneel down and pray for me." Overcome by impor- 
tunity and compassion, the boy fell on his knees, and with 
heavy sobs and in broken words, begged God to have mercy 
on his poor dying master. " 

The captain was too much affected to speak. The simplicity, 
sincerity, and humility of the lad's prayer had so much impressed 
his mind, that he lay groaning inwardly with spiritual anguish, 
and wetting his couch with tears. Bob retired on deck, for 
the scene had quite overcome him. In the evening he again 
read the Bible to the captain, whose soul appeared to receive 
every word with indescribable eagerness. The next morning, 
on entering the state-room, the boy was struck with the extra- 
ordinary change visible in his master's features. That gloomy 
horror, which had so long added to the natural ferocity of his 
weather-beaten countenance, was fled, and the circumstances 
of the past night had settled the whole arrangement of his fea- 
tures into a holy, pleasant, calm, and resigned state, that would 
seem to say, "An heir of grace can find ' glory begun below.' " 

" O, Bob, my dear lad," said the captain, with great humility, 
" I have had such a night ! After you left me I fell into a sort 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 25 

of a doze; my mind was full of the many blessed things you 
had been reading to me from the precious Bible. All on a 
sudden I thought I saw, in that corner of my bed-place, Jesus 
Christ bleeding on his cross. Struck with the view, I thought 
I arose and crawled to the place, and casting myself at his feet 
in the greatest agony of soul, I cried out for a long time, like 
the blind man you read of, 'Jesus, thou Son of David, have 
mercy on me.' At length I thought he looked on me. Yes, 
my dear lad, he looked at your poor, wicked captain ; and, O, 
Bob, what a look it was ! I shall never forget it. My blood 
rushed to my heart; my pulse beat high; my soul thrilled with 
agitation ; and, waiting for him to speak, with fear, not unmixed 
with hope, I saw him smile. O, my child, I saw him smile — 
yes, and he smiled on me — on me; Bob. 0, my dear boy, he 
smiled on wretched, guilty me. Ah ! what did I feel at that 
moment; my heart was too full to speak, but I waited, and 
ventured to look up, when I heard him say, hanging as he did 
on the cross, the blood streaming from his hands, and feet, and 
side — 0, Bob, what sounds were these; shall I ever hear his 
beloved voice again ? — I heard him say in sounds that angels 
cannot reach, 'Son, be of good cheer: thy sins, which are many, 
are forgiven thee T My heart burst into joy; I fell prostrate 
at his feet; I could not utter a word but glory, glory, glory. 
The vision vanished; I fell back on my pillow; I opened my 
eyes ; I was covered with perspiration. I said, ' O, this cannot 
be a dream.' No, Bob, I know that Jesus bled and died for 
me; I can believe the promises, the many precious promises 
you have read to me out of the Bible, and I feel that the blood 
of the cross can cleanse even me. I am not now afraid to die; 
no, Bob, my sins are pardoned through Jesus. I want no 
more; I am now ready to die; I have no wish to live. I can- 
not, I feel I cannot be many days more on this side of eternity. 
The extreme agitation of my mind of late, has increased the 
fever of my body, and I shall soon breathe my last." 

The boy, who had silently shed many tears, now burst into 
a flood of sorrow, and involuntarily cried, " No, my dear master, 
don't leave me." "Bob," said he calmly, "my dear boy, comfort 



26 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

your mind; I am happy, I am going to be happy forever. 
I feel for you ; my bowels yearn over you as if you were my 
own child. I am sorry to leave you in such a wicked world, 
and with such wicked men as sailors are in general. 0, may 
you ever be kept from those crimes into which I have fallen. 
Your kindness to me, my dear lad, has been great; God will 
reward you for it. To you, as an instrument in the Lord's 
hands, I owe everything. Surely he sent you to me. God 
bless you, my dear boy; tell my crew to forgive me, as I 
forgive and pray for them." Thus the day passed in the most 
pleasing and profitable manner, when Bob, after reading the 
Bible as usual, retired to his hammock. 

The next morning Bob arose at daylight, and opening the 
state-room door, saw his master had risen from his pillow and 
crawled to the corner of his bed-place, where, in his dream, he 
beheld the cross. There he appeared kneeling down in the 
attitude of prayer, his hands clasped and raised, and his 
body leaning against the ship's side. But the spirit had fled 
some hours before, to be with Christ, we hope, which is far 
better. ' 



PROFITABLE POLITENESS. 



THE Boston Traveler, in commenting on the prevalence 
of rudeness, tells the following incident that happened 
some years ago. 
There was a plainly dressed elderly lady who was a frequent 
customer at the then leading dry goods store in Boston. No 
one in the store knew her even by name. All the clerks but 
one avoided her, and gave their attention to those who were 
better dressed and more pretentious. The exception was a 
young man who had a conscientious regard for duty and sys- 
tem. He never left another customer to wait on the lady, but 
when at liberty, he waited on her with as much attention as 
though she had been a princess. This continued a year or 
two, until the young man became of age. One morning the 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 27 

lady approached the young man, when the following conver- 
sation took place : 

"Young man, do you wish to go into business for yourself?" 

"Yes ma'am, he responded, "but I have neither money, 
credit, nor friends ; nor will any one trust me." 

"Well," continued the lady, "you go and find a good situa- 
tion, ask what the rent is, and report to me," handing the 
young man her address. The young man went, found a capital 
location, a good store, but the landlord required security, 
which he could not give. Mindful of the lady's request, he 
forthwith went to her and reported. 

"Well," she replied, "you go and tell Mr. that I will be 

responsible." 

He went, and the landlord or agent was surprised, but the 
bargain Avas closed. The next day the lady called to ascertain 
the result. The young man told her, but added, " What am I 
to do for goods ? No one will trust me." 

"You may go and see Mr. , and Mr. , and Mr. , 

and tell them to call on me." 

He did, and his store was soon stocked with the best goods 
in the market. There are many in this city who remember the 
circumstances and the men. He died many years since, and 
left a fortune of $300,000. So much for politeness, so much 
for treating one's elders with the deferance due to age, in 
whatever garb they are clothed. 



INTERESTING STORY. 



THE following artless and interesting relation is another 
proof of the advantages of Bible and Tract Societies. 
It is important that the sinner, through some medium, 
be warned of his danger. If this be well and faithfully done, 
the laborer will not always be without his reward. 

The W , a vessel of upwards of 400 tons, was freighted 

from Liverpool for a trading voyage up the Mediterranean 
Sea. I was intimately acquainted with the captain's nephew, 



28 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

an accomplished young man, of handsome person, but alas ! a 
willing victim at the shrine of pleasure. He had shipped 
himself for the voyage as steward. When leaving Liverpool, 
I put into his hands a small bundle of tracts, and, in proof of 
his esteem for me, he promised to read them at his leisure, and 
likewise to distribute some among the ship's company. Not 
an individual, from the captain to the cabin boy, had the least 
sense of religion, nor do I believe they had a Bible or Testa- 
ment on board. On the return of the vessel, about twelve 
months afterward, as soon as my young friend could step on 
shore, he paid me the first visit. On my saluting him with, 
" Well, what cheer, my lad ? " he answered (at the same time 
the tears trembling in his eyes), " Through the mercy of God, 
I am well, and the whole ship's crew." Surprised at hearing 
a strain of pious gratitude flow from those lips which formerly 
were seldom opened except to pollute them with profane con- 
versation, I said, "William, what has produced this change in 
your look, your address, your language ? How is it that you 
acknowledge it is of the Lord's mercies that you are not 
consumed?" "Sir," said he, "I will relate* particulars — you 
recollect on my taking leave of you, you placed in my hand a 
small parcel of tracts, and I promised to read them: this I 
I have done. On leaving the port we had a favorable wind 
through the channel; the wind then chopped around direct in 
our teeth. We had to contend with light, contrary winds, till 
we entered the Gut of Gibraltar. During this part of our 
voyage I had little or no opportunity to read the tracts. I did 
on the first Sabbath turn them over, and put a few in my 
pocket, and occasionally taking one out, gave it a sneering 
glance, and then handed it to one of the boys or men, with a 
smile of ridicule. On passing the Gut, we had a tedious 
though pleasant voyage to Smyrna. 

" Having much time upon my hands, I now and then looked 
at a tract to pass away time. One evening ( I well remember 
the evening), about an hour before sunset, scarce a breath of 
air, we had spread all the canvas we could, which lay flapping 
against the mast; the men on board, some sitting on the fore- 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 29 

hatch, others lolling over the windlass, now and then whispered 
a curse instead of a prayer for a breeze; a boy sitting athwart 
a gun'; the captain in the cabin smoking his cigar, with his 
allowance of grog before him; the wide and beautiful expanse 
of water, smooth as glass, bounded by a calm and serene sky; 
the smoke of Mount Vesuvius just visible in the horizon, 
bearing E. N. E. — every object hushed into silent solitude; not 
a sound was heard but our own breathings, and the gentle 
breaking; of the sea ag;ainst the bow of the vessel — I was 
looking over the ship's side, viewing the calm and peaceful 
close of another day. This brought to my recollection the 
scenery and calmness of the evening when I took my last 
farewell of my friends at home. It was sunset on a lovely 
evening in July. Musing thus of home, my mind had acquired 
a tint of melancholy. I just then put my hand in my jacket 
pocket, and feeling some paper, took it out, and it proved to 
be a tract — 'The Swearer's Prayer.' I read it aloud, in the 
hearing of the whole crew, and I suppose much of the tincture 
of my feelings was mixed with my tone of voice. When I 
had read it, a curious kind of silence ensued; not one of us 
felt inclined to raise his eyes from what they were fixed upon, 
fearing to meet the look of another, and knowing that to a 
man, we were all shockingly guilty of swearing. At length 
we looked at each other in a sidelong kind of way, and one 
man said, 'Mr. William, I never heard or thought of this 
before; this kind of reading has made me feel very strange — I 
am trembling; I don't think I shall live to swear again; shall 
you, Jack ? ' turning short to a seaman alongside of him, who 
looked him full in the face and burst into tears. The shedding 
of tears ran like a contagion through the whole of us, even to 
the boy across the gun. After weeping in silence, with our 
faces hid in our hands, one man said, 'Jack, suppose we put 
up a prayer to God for forgiveness- Mr. William, you have 
had more learning than we, you can make a prayer.' — Alas ! I 
had never prayed; I could only sigh; I really thought my 
heart would burst. O, how dreadful did sin appear ! One of 
the men then broke the silence of grief. With his arms across 



30 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

his breast, and the tears of penitential sorrow rolling down his 
manly countenance, he cried out, ' O God, who made our souls, 
have mercy, and pardon the miserable and damned crew on 
this deck.' Not a heart but what responded, ' Lord, hear this 
prayer and forgive.' But not to enter too long into detail, the 
Lord was pleased to work a change in the whole ship's 
company. One circumstance I must not forget to mention. 
The captain, a drunken, swearing character, thought his men 
bewitched. On the following morning he came on deck, 
and, as usual, was giving his orders, mixed with fearful oaths, 
when one of the men, in a most respectful manner, begged 
he would not swear at them, — they would obey his orders 
with more comfort to themselves without it. Indeed, the 
captain remarked to a person on his return, that he was 
obliged to refrain from swearing, it began to appear on board 
so singular." 



CHRIS TI All CONTENTMENT. 

WE WENT the other day to see a very old lady. She 
was eighty-eight years old. She lived in a small room, 
all by herself, and she had a small fire and small ket- 
tles, and a small pantry, and a little round table, and a little 
teapot. Everything was on a small scale, to suit her small 
strength and her small means. She was very glad to see us. 

"Are you not lonely sometimes ? " we asked. 

"Oh, no," she answered in a cheerful tone; "the Lord Jesus 
is always with me ; and he is the best society, you know." 

We inquired about her nights : " did she sleep well ? " 

"Yes," she said; "but she arose early, at five o'clock, or 
thereabouts." We expressed our surprise. "Well, my Saviour, 
you know, arose a great while before day to pray, and I find it 
so sweet to follow his example ; and when the moon shines, 
and I don't have a light, I have such beautiful times;" and her 
aged face shone, I thought, something as Moses' did when he 
came down from talking to God on the mount. 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 31 

She bustled about and showed us her old Bible, and the 
quilts she made seventy years ago, and related in a lively style 
the way things used to be in her day. 

"I suppose you think a great deal of those old times," we 
said. 

"Yes," she answered. "Yes; but I think a great deal more 
of those good times to come!' 

"You have mercies; goodness and mercy seem to crown 
your days." 

"Yes, yes," she exclaimed, "and I count it one of my great 
mercies, that I can turn over in my bed!' 

Oh, I thought, how easy it is for the thankful heart to find 
occasion for thankfulness. 



THE CHILD WITNESS. 



A LITTLE girl, nine years of age, was offered as a witness 
against a prisoner who was on trial for felony committed 
in her father's house. 

"Now, Emily," said the counsel for the prisoner, upon her 
being offered as a witness, " I desire to know if you understand 
the nature of an oath?" 

" I don't know what you mean," was the simple answer. 

"There, your honor," said the counsel, addressing the court, 
"is anything further necessary to demonstrate the validity of 
my objection? This witness should be rejected. She does 
not comprehend the nature of an oath." 

" Let us see," said the judge. " Come here my daughter." 

Assured by the kind tone and manner of the judge, the 
child stepped toward him, and looked confidently up into his 
face, with a calm, clear eye, and in a manner so artless and 
frank that it went straight to the heart. 

"Did you ever take an oath ?" inquired the judge. 

The little girl stepped back with a look of horror; and the 
red blood mantled in a blush all over her face and neck as she 
answered, "No, sir." 



32 SKE1 CHES A ND A NEC DO TES. 

She thought he intended to inquire if she had ever blas- 
phemed. 

"I do not mean that," said the judge, who saw her mistake. 
"I mean were you ever a witness before?" 

"No, sir; I never was in court before," was the answer. 

He handed her the Bible open. 

"Do you know that book, my daughter?" 

She looked at it and answered, "Yes, sir; it is the Bible." 

"Do you ever read it?" he asked. 

"Yes, sir; every evening." 

"Can you tell me what the Bible is?" inquired the judge. 

"It is the word of the great God," she answered. 

"Well, place your hand upon this Bible, and listen to what 
I say;" and he repeated slowly and solemnly the oath usually 
administered to witnesses. 

"Now," said the judge, "you have sworn as a witness, will 
you tell me what will befall you if you do not tell the truth?" 

"I shall be shut up in the State prison," answered the child. 

"Anything else?" asked the judge. 

" I shall never go to heaven," she replied. 

" How do you know this ? " he asked. 

The child took the Bible, and turning rapidly to the chapter 
containing the commandments, pointed to the injunction, 
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." "I 
learned that before I could read." 

"Has any one talked with you about being a witness in 
court here against this man?" inquired the judge. 

" Yes, sir," she replied. " My mother heard they wanted me 
to be a witness, and last night she called me to her room, and 
asked me to tell her the Ten Commandments; and then we 
kneeled down together, and she prayed that I might under- 
stand how wicked it was to bear false witness against my 
neighbor, and that God would help me, a little child, to tell the 
truth as it was, before him. And when I came up here with 
father she kissed me, and told me to remember the Ninth 
Commandment, and that God would hear every word that I 
said." 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 33 

"Do you believe this?" asked the judge, while a tear glis- 
tened in his eye, and his lip quivered with emotion. 

"Yes, sir," said the child, with a voice and manner that 
showed that her conviction of its truth was perfect. 

"God bless you, my child!" said the judge; "you have 
a good mother. This witness is competent," he continued. 
" Were I on trial for my life, and innocent of the charge against 
me, I would pray God for such witnesses. Let her be 
examined." 

She told her story with the simplicity of a child as she was, 
but there was a directness about it which carried conviction of 
its truth to every heart. She was rigidly cross-examined. The 
counsel plied her with infinite and ingenious questioning, but 
she varied from her first statement in nothing. The truth as 
spoken by that little child was sublime. Falsehood and perjury 
had preceded her testimony; the prisoner had intrenched him- 
self in lies until he deemed himself impregnable; witnesses 
had falsified facts in his favor, and villiany had manufactured 
for him a sham defence; but before her testimony falsehood 
was scattered like chaff. The little child for whom a mother 
had prayed for strength to be given her to speak the truth 
as it was before God, broke the cunning devices of matured 
villiany to pieces like a potter's vessel. The strength that her 
mother prayed for was given her, and the sublime and terrible 
simplicity — terrible, I mean, to the prisoner and his associates 
— with which she spoke, was like a revelation from God 
himself. 



THE STORY OF COLBERT. 



COLBERT, the woolen draper's apprentice, who afterward 
became Prime Minister of France, was, in a certain 
sense, the maker of his own fortune, although we know 
that it is God's blessing only which can really bring us success, 
and that it was God who enabled Jean Baptiste Colbert to 



34 SKE TCHES AND A NE CD TES. 

perform the honorable action which was his first step to 
prosperity. 

We read that he was a thoughtful boy, loving nothing so 
well as his books, and prompted only by duty to his parents, 
when he was willing to be bound apprentice to a woolen 
draper at Rheims. One day he was sent to the house of a 
banker of Paris, to show him some cloths, and, having been 
informed of the prices, he started on his errand. 

Upon being taken into the presence of the young gentleman, 
he laid the goods before him, and he chose one of the pieces. 
Upon asking the price, he was told fifteen crowns a yard — 
Colbert believing himself to be right. The banker, opening 
his desk, handed him four hundred and fifty crowns, the price 
of the thirty yards required. Colbert wrote a receipt for it, 
took the money, and returned to the shop. 

The sharp old woolen-draper asked if he had made any 
mistake, declaring that he should return the surplus money if 
he had charged too little. To Colbert's dismay, however, it 
was found that he had charged fifteen crowns for the cloth, 
which was worth but eight. The master was delighted, 
and embraced him, declaring that he would be an honor 
to his family ; but the boy seized his hat, exclaiming, " I 
will return to the gentleman, and give him back what I have 
retained in mistake ! " With a bound he cleared the thres- 
hold, and was out of sight before his old master could 
hinder him. 

Upon arriving at the hotel and asking for the gentleman, he 
was so persistent in his demands that the valet went to his 
master, who was dressing. 

"The young woolen-draper, sir, wishes to speak with you." 

" I cannot see him now," was the reply. 

"Oh! please sir, one word," said a voice at the door. It 
was Colbert, who had ventured to follow the servant, and who 
now stepped into the room, told his tale, and laid down two 
hundred and ten crowns upon the table. 

"That is the sum you overpaid me, sir; I beg your pardon, 
and have the honor to wish you good morning." 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 35 

But the young banker called him back, and asked how it 
was he had not kept the money. 

"I never thought of it, sir," was the simple reply, 

" Suppose I were to make you a present of it ? " 

"Sir, I would not take it;" and the fair young face flushed 
with crimson. 

"Well, good-by. We shall meet again:" and the banker 
dismissed him. 

When Colbert reached the street, the first person he met 
was the angry woolen-draper, who ordered him to return to 
his home, and never to venture again into his presence. 

That evening Colbert walked into the little room where 
his parents were eating their frugal supper, and told them 
what had happened, and that he had lost his situation. 
There was only one feeling in the hearts of the good 
people — Colbert had acted rightly, and God would not 
desert him. 

While they were talking a visitor was announced, a stranger 
to his parents, but not unknown to Colbert. It was the 
young banker, who had been to the woolen-draper's shop, 
and then traced the boy to his home, that he might offer 
him a situation in his own banking house. His strict and 
conscientious application to business led to rapid advance- 
ment, and Colbert was at length made traveler to the firm. 

His mind and taste developed in the course of his journeys, 
and when he was about thirty years of age he was placed with 
the Secretary of State. He was advanced from time to time, 
until he became Privy Councilor, and upon the resignation of 
Mazarin, who had become disliked and mistrusted, was made 
Comptroller-general of Paris, acquitting himself with zeal and 
prudence. 

But now that he was a great man, Colbert did not forget his 
home. He procured good appointments for his brothers, and 
advanced them by every means in his power. 

His great work was to found a chamber of commerce, to 
establish naval schools, and to open the harbors of Brest, 
Toulon and Rochefort. 



36 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

At the age of sixty-four years he died, leaving behind him 
nine children, who all occupy high and distinguished stations. 
Thus ended the life of Jean Baptiste Colbert — the slight, fair 
boy, who, with silken curls falling upon his shoulders, once 
pored over his favorite books in the woolen-draper's shop at 
Rheims. 



A STRANGE FUNERAL SERMON 



THE deceased had long been renowned throughout that 
part of the country for his wickedness. His intellectual 
abilities were of no mean order; his property was con- 
siderable, and he had belonged to a highly respectable family 
— advantages which he used most assiduously in the service 
of his master. By the practice of every kind of dissipation 
he had achieved an evil notoriety, and gloried in being consid- 
ered the most dangerous and fascinating roue in the country. 
This being so, his associates resolved upon giving him a 
funeral worthy of his reputation. 

As one means of insuring this, they invited one of the most 
eminent Presbyterian ministers in the region to deliver the 
funeral discourse. To the surprise of many, after some little 
hesitation, he consented. On the day and at the hour appointed 
the meeting house was crowded to overflowing by an assembly 
composed of the relatives, friends, and companions of the 
deceased, together with a mixed multitude drawn from far 
and near to hear what such a minister could have to say of 
such a man. 

Punctual to the moment the services began. The announce- 
ment of the text fell like a clap of thunder upon the assembly. 
It was from Luke xvi. 23: "And in hell he lifted up his eyes, 
being in torment." The sermon was a most pungent and pow- 
erful exhibition of the character, course, and end of a wicked 
man. It held the assembly spell-bound to the very last word; 
but there was in it not a single direct allusion to the person 
whose obsequies they had come there to celebrate. 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 37 

In silence and deep solemnity the congregation dispersed 
after the sermon was finished. Some were indignant, but the 
attempt to excite odium against the preacher was a failure. It 
was generally thought that in what he had done he was 
governed by a sense of duty. He was said to have stated 
afterward, that when he was invited to preach upon that occa- 
sion he had determined to decline, but, in answer to prayer, 
received a message, which he believed to be from God, " Go 
and preach the preaching that I bid thee." 



INDIAN TEST OF HONESTY. 



WHEN the Indians went away after the cession of their 
lands east of the Mississippi, I went with them. I 
took up my quarters at the head-waters of Wis-se-ba, 
at the junction of two important streams, tributaries to the great 
father of waters ; I opened a store and resolved to become an 
Indian trader. Permit me to tell you a coon story — not a 
political one, but a commercial one. After exposing my goods, 
in all their Indian varieties, for some days, without any success 
in selling, I became almost discouraged, and nearly concluded 
to give it up. The Indians would come into the store by 
dozens; they would examine the goods and go away without 
buying. They had plenty of shu-ne-ha (money), and plenty 
of furs, and destitute of goods — and that to me was a mystery. 
At length the head war-chief of the nation came into the store 
in company with a large crowd of Indians. He instantly 
exclaimed, " How do, Thomas ? come show me some of your 
nice goods; what do you ask for this? I'll take four yards of 
calico, three coon skins for one yard, half-dollar exactly, by, 
meby to-morrow I'll pay you." The next day he came accom- 
panied by his whole band; his blanket above his waist stuffed 
with coon skins : "American, I'll pay that bill now." Suiting 
the action to the word, he began to pull the skins from the 
blanket: throwing them on the counter, he counted out twelve 
and stopped, still holding the thirteenth in his hand; at last he 



38 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

laid it down with the rest, exclaiming-, " That's it, exactly!" 
I handed it hack to him, telling him he owed me but twelve, 
and that the Great Spirit would not let me cheat him. We 
continued to pass it back and forth, each one asserting that it 
belonged to the other. At last he appeared to be satisfied ; he 
gave me a scrutinizing look, then placed the skin within the 
folds of his blanket, stepped to the door, gave a yell, and cried 
with a loud voice, "Come right away, all of you, and trade 
with the pale face boy; he is honest, he will not cheat Indian, 
he believes in the Great Spirit, his heart is big, he is an honest 
trader ! " He then turned to me and said, " If you had taken 
that one coon skin, I would have told my Indians to have 
nothing to do with you, and would have driven you away like 
a dog; but I have found that you are the Indian's friend, and 
we will be yours." The Indians then began to flock into the 
store and trade, and before the sun had gone down, I was waist 
deep in furs, besides shu-ne-ha (money) in plenty. That one 
coon skin saved me. 



TRANSFORMING POWER OF GRACE. 



ONE of the most marvelous instances of the transforming 
power of Divine Grace is that related by John B. Gough, 
of a woman whom he encountered in Edinburgh, Scot- 
land, where he had gone to labor in the interests of temperance. 
He attended a meeting in the wickedest part of the city. He 
had never before witnessed such degradation, misery and filth, 
as were visible among the outcasts there assembled. Among- 
the audience was one of the most desperate characters known 
to the city authorities. She had served fifty-four terms in 
prison. Not one of the police force would attempt to arrest 
her without help, and when she was excited by rum or passion, 
the thieves and outlaws among whom she lived would flee 
from her. 

Some one on the platform pointed her out to J. B. Gough, 
and was telling him her character, when she noticed that they 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 39 

were looking at her. She immediately arose, went upon the 
platform, and in a defiant manner asked Gough whether he 
would give the temperance pledge to such an one as she. His 
companion greatly feared a scene of fighting and confusion, 
and whispered to Gough not to notice her — that she w r ould 
never keep a pledge to abstain from liquor. She demanded in 
a threatening way, "Is he ready to give me the pledge?" He 
replied, "Yes; but there is a man here who says you will not 
keep it." Terribly excited at this, she screamed at the top of 
her voice, and demanded to know who and where he was that 
had so said. Her excitement v/as calmed by Gough, who 
again said he would give her the pledge, and that he would 
take her word to keep it as quick as he would take the word 
of any woman in Edinburgh. Touched by his confidence, she 
stood quiet and thoughtful for a minute, and yielding to the 
visitation of Divine love to her soul, afresh extended to her at 
that critical moment, she promised to give up her drinking 
habits. 

Four years after, J. B. Gough held another meeting in Edin- 
burgh. Two women sat in front of the platform, listening 
attentively. The tears and emotions of one touched his heart 
deeply. When the meeting closed, one of the women came 
up to the platform, and asked him if he knew the woman who 
sat sobbing in front of him. He said, "No." "Well," she 
said, "that is my mother; and, oh, how proud I am of her; 
but the fire and rum are all taken out of her now, wherein the 
neighbors were all afraid of her when she drank. Now, when 
they have trouble or sickness, the worst of them will say, 
'bring me the good angel,' for she has got the comfort that 
serves all." 

There she sat clothed, and in her right mind. She that was 
as ferocious as a tiger sat with streams of joyful tears, rubbing 
her cheeks, so subdued and humbled that she shrank from 
making herself known, even to the man that dared trust her 
word when no other living creature would believe her. He 
asked her how she got along. " Oh, sir, the struggle was hard, 
hard, hard, very hard. Often I have dreamed that I had gone 



40 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

back to drink, and that I was fighting with the neighbors with 
a worse nature than ever before. The dreams have been so real 
to me, that I have often awakened out of sleep and rolled out 
of bed upon my knees, crying at the top of my voice for God 
to save me, and I would never drink or fight again. The voice 
of my daughter has often called me to consciousness, in times 
of such despair. She would cry, 'Mother, mother, you are 
safe; it is only a dream you have had.' As I passed from that 
anguish at the thought of falling, I had some idea of the 
misery of a lost soul. And when I threw myself on the floor 
of my little, quiet, clean room, with my saved daughter by my 
side, oh, how the joy of a heaven on earth flooded through 
my soul. Praise God, I am not only saved from drink, but 
saved from sinning against such a merciful and loving God as 
I have found in Jesus." 

J. B. Gough made inquiry from others how she got along 
and spent her time. He found that she hired a little shop and 
sold eatables, such as the poor around her us^ed, at a lower 
price than they could buy at other places. Her daughter and 
she made common sacks. They lived on thirty cents a day 
and were able to help scores of poor families. As soon as the 
drink got out of her own system, she began to labor with 
others like herself. Her first effort was with a woman who 
was counted the next hardest case in Edinburgh. She never 
left her until she was reclaimed. When she went after such 
ones, she was never known to fail. She believed when she felt 
for them, God felt for them, and had laid the burden on her 
for them. There was no sacrifice too great for her to make, 
in view of rescuing another immortal soul. She generally 
brought them to her house, and kept them there, until she 
broke up their hardened hearts with her love. She would 
watch every move that they would make. She would wait on 
them, wash their feet, comb their hair, pat their cheeks and kiss 
them as but few mothers can. She knew her work, and had 
the assurance that she was successfully wooing them for Christ. 
She was never idle in her new Master's work. Many were lifted 
up from the lowest depths of sin through her instrumentality. 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 41 

She lived to the honor of her Redeemer, Jesus Christ, over 
twenty-seven years. She died in great joy, praising God for 
his power to save to the uttermost all who come to Him 
through Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and 
man. The mayor of Edinburgh, with the city officers, and 
ministers of the gospel, and Christians of every denomination, 
together with thousands of the citizens, mourned with a heart- 
felt grief as her remains were lowered into the grave. 



A RAY OF SUNSHINE. 



A MINISTER, whom the Master has been pleased to honor 
as a comforter of His people, relates the following 
incident: "In the earlier years of my christian life, I 
was accustomed to visit a poor district of a city in Scotland. 
One day I stepped into a hovel, dimly lighted and scantily 
furnished, but yet displaying a studied neatness and order. 
The only inmate, an aged woman, bowed down with infirm- 
ities, and almost blind, was seated near the fire-place. A few 
moments' conversation satisfied me that she was one of Christ's 
lowly ones, rich in faith, full of peace, and rejoicing in hope 
of the glory of God. After my own soul had been refreshed 
with her gracious words, I asked, 'And how do you spend the 
long day here ? ' ' There is little difference to me,' she replied, 
'between the hours of day and night, but they do not seem 
long. There is One who abides with me, whose love makes 
it all joy and light to my soul. When I awake, He is still 
with me, and the time seems too short to meditate on His 
perfection, and to commune with Him. My neighbors are 
very kind, and when they come in to help me, I have the 
privilege of telling them what He is to me, and of persuading 
them to taste and see that God is good. There is just one 
hour for which I watch. You see that window,' she said, 
pointing to the four little panes that admitted the dim light 
into the apartment in which we sat. 'For about an hour 
every day, when it is not cloudy, the sun shines in there. 



42 SKE TCHES AND A NEC DO TES. 

I then take my large print Bible and sit down in the sunlight, 
where I can see well enough to read, and a precious hour 
it is to me.'" 

"I thought," said the minister, when he related her little 
story, "I thought of the great sun, the centre of the solar 
system, sending his light and heat to so many distant worlds. 
I thought of all that he shone for in this busy world — the 
fields of grain and golden fruits that were ripening in his heat 
— all the labors of man that were advancing in his light; and 
I felt sure that from his going forth from the ends of heaven, 
as a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber, as a strong 
man to run a race, in all his circuit to the end of it, he did no 
nobler service, and none more grateful to our Father in heaven, 
who causeth his sun to shine on the evil and on the good, than 
when for a short hour, he sent a few beams into that little 
window, to light up the sacred page to the dim eyes of that 
poor old woman whom the world knew not." 



WORK IN FAITH. 



WHEN John Wesley was endeavoring to found an orphan 
school, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, he had his plans 
arranged, his workmen engaged, and was going to 
leave. They desired one hundred pounds for materials to 
commence the work, but Wesley had not the money. His 
plans were all laid and the time fixed for leaving, but where 
would the money come from ? Just as he was about to leave, 
a Quaker called upon him and said, "John, I had a strange 
dream about thee last night. I thought I saw thee with a 
parcel of little lambs in a storm, and thee was trying to shelter 
them and had no place. I woke up and thought of thy 
orphan-house, and here is my check for one hundred pounds." 
This was just the .sum that was wanted. God intended that 
the poor children should be taken care of, so he put into 
Wesley's mind the purpose to go forward, and placed in the 
old Quaker's pocket the money, and the heart to give it. God 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 43 

works by diverse agencies: we little know what He is doing 
in the world. He is putting a thought into this heart and a 
thought into that heart. His work is like a. grand mosaic 
picture. Here and there are stones of different colors and 
shadings, and they are scattered all over the earth. There is 
no picture about it, but God's Spirit takes hold of the colors 
and works, by and by, a beautiful picture. God saw it all, but 
we could not see it. Faith takes hold of it, saying, "It is 
God's will it should be done." All the great works of earth 
have been done by faith. The churches planned, the institu- 
tions raised, the great universities founded — the lights that 
shine in the world and are drawing men toward Christ — are 
the works of faith. 



WHO CAN BEAR A GUILTY CONSCIENCE? 



WHEN I was a child, I was invited to spend an evening 
with a companion of mine, who lived about a quarter 
of a mile from my father's house. It was autumn; 
the leaves had fallen from the trees; the birds had departed; 
the cold winds had begun to blow, and the ground was 
whitened with frost. 

My mother gave her consent, but little did she think of the 
temptation to which her child would be exposed. I went, and 
found I was to pass the evening with other children of the 
village. There were gathered the wealthy and the poor, but I 
was poorest of them all. I was clothed in my best attire, but 
it was thin and scanty for the season. I looked upon my 
companions, and they were well and comfortably dressed. I 
told my sorrows to no one, but grieved at my lot, until envy, 
cruel envy, arose in my bosom and destroyed all my peace. 
It was soon proposed by one of the company that we should 
play blind-man's-buff, and by another that we should take off 
our shoes to prevent the noise it would occasion. All but 
myself commenced doing this, and ran to put them together 
in one corner of the room. I had none to take off. I had 



44 SKE TCHES AND A NE CD TES. 

none to wear. Indeed, I expected to go to school many days 
with cold feet, and when the snow came to stay at home, which 
to me would be a greater grief than the former. The play was 
soon ended, and as the evening was very fine, it was proposed 
to walk in the garden. Every one ran for their shoes. I had 
thought too long and too deeply about them. I ran with the 
group, and selected a pair belonging to a boy of about my 
own age and size, and was among the first that entered the 
garden, leaving the boy making many inquiries for his shoes. 

When we returned, I did not take them into the house with 
me, but placed them where I could conveniently take them 
when we went home, for I had determined upon keeping them. 
It was my first attempt to take that which did not belong to 
me. The sports of the evening were soon ended, and we 
prepared to return to our homes. I made great haste, and 
bidding the company good-night, was the first to leave the 
house. Glad should I have been if the darkness of the night 
had surrounded me, but to me it appeared that the moon never 
shone with more brilliancy, or the stars shed more lustre. 
Notwithstanding this, I seized the shoes and hurried home. 
Conscience, however, had not ceased to upbraid me since the 
first moments of my wrong, and as I walked home it was my 
only companion. 

At length I arrived at the door, but was afraid to go in. I 
dreaded to meet my parents, for I felt that they knew all that I 
had done, and they had taught me the command, "Thou shalt 
not steal." I hid the shoes, and summoned courage to go in. 
How awful it is to meet our dearest friends ! Their kindness 
seems reproof, and their smiles at that time worse than frowns. 

It being late, I soon retired with my brothers to our cham- 
ber, but not to sleep. Very soon all around me was silent; 
nothing was heard but the breath of innocency sleeping by my 
side.^ But oh, the wretched condition of my mind. I felt I 
had justly deserved the displeasure of my parents, for I had 
disobeyed their commands, and if their command, how much 
more had I disobeyed God's. Ever before, I had considered 
him as a lovely being, but now I felt I had provoked his anger. 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 45 

He had fixed the bounds of my habitation, but I wished to be 
the disposer of my own fortune. I knew he had witnessed 
the whole transaction, and that his All-seeing eye was every 
moment upon me. Had it been possible, how gladly would I 
have hid myself from him ! I reflected upon my crime until 
it appeared so great, that every moment I expected the anger 
of the Lord would burst upon me. My head was pained, my 
limbs trembled. 

At length I resolved to arise and go, even at midnight, and 
return the shoes to the house from which I had taken them. 
I was about leaving my room, when I looked upon the counte- 
nances of those who were free from the enormous crime of 
which I was guilty, and consequently were sleeping sweetly, 
and knew nothing of my sorrows. Gladly would I have 
awakened one to accompany me; but no, I must go alone. I 
passed easily down the stairs, and again found myself encom- 
passed with difficulty. I could not go out without passing 
through my mother's room, and if I awoke her, she would, of 
course, be solicitous to know the reason of my leaving my 
chamber. But I was determined I would go, and if she awoke 
I would tell her all. I succeeded in passing out without waking 
her, and taking the shoes, hurried half-way to the house where 
I had passed the evening, and left them a short distance from 
each other on the road, and again returned to my chamber, 
and laid my head upon my pillow. But my mind was not 
relieved, and compelled by conscience, I again arose, returned 
to the spot where I had left them, and with a trembling heart 
went quite to the house, and placed them under the window 
near the door, and again returned to my bed. Being quite 
exhausted, I soon fell asleep, 

The next week, I went in company with some of my 
companions on a nutting excursion. The boy whom I had 
wronged was one of the number. I need hardly say that I 
was happy when I saw the shoes I had coveted upon his feet, 
although I was still destitute. 

This incident has had a beneficial effect upon my life. Its 
influence is yet felt, although many years have passed since it 



46 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

occurred. Let it be a warning to all who may read it, to resist 
even the first approaches to evil, and they will avoid the misery 
of an upbraiding conscience, and the pain of self-reproach in 
after years. 



ANECDOTE OF JOHN COLLINGSWORTH. 



ON ONE occasion John Collingsworth was passing through 
Virginia, and seeing so much land given up to tobacco- 
growing, he became greatly stirred in spirit. In a 
sermon which he preached, after denouncing the wickedness, 
he offered an earnest prayer to God, in which he besought 
Him to convince the people of their great error in spending 
their time, and means, and toil, in the cultivation of so noxious 
a weed. He prayed the Lord to manifest His disapproval of 
their course by destroying the crops, then in a most flourishing 
state, if nothing else would convince them. * During that same 
afternoon a violent hail storm passed through that section of 
the country, blasting the prospects of the Virginians for a 
bountiful crop. The fields were literally torn up, and the 
tobacco utterly destroyed. 

An old, ungodly planter, who had been a great sufferer, 
hearing of the Methodist preacher's prayer, resolved to follow 
him and chastise him for the evil done. Overtaking him, full 
of wrath, he inquired, "Are you, sir, the Methodist preacher 
who prayed the Lord to destroy my crop of tobacco ? " The 
preacher replied, "My name is Collingsworth; I preached 
yesterday in the neighborhood, and prayed the Lord to show 
His disapproval of raising tobacco." 

"Well, sir, you are just the man I am after. I am ruined 
for this season, and I have come to take my revenge on you, 
sir ! " at the same time brandishing a frightful-looking wagon 
whip, with which the whipping was to be done. 

The minister commenced slowly to dismount, coolly address- 
ing the planter as he did so : " Well, if I must be whipped for 
it, I suppose I must submit; but take care that, before you 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 47 

have done, I do not pray the Lord to overtake you with some- 
thing worse than overtook your crop." That thought had 
never entered the planter's mind. Wishing to get as far away 
from such a man's prayers as possible, he put spurs to his 
horse, and galloped off with all possible speed. 



OUR DEFENDER. 



JAMES KENNEDY, now of San Jose, California, crossed 
the plains in 1852 with his family to California. This was 
but a few years after the discovery of gold, and the coun- 
try was full of desperadoes. For awhile he worked in the 
mines. Then he went into the business of transporting on 
pack mules supplies to the miners, and he crossed the Sierras 
twenty-three times. Afterward, for twenty years, he kept the 
toll-gate at Los Gatos. During all this time he never went 
armed. When he kept the gate, it was well-known that he 
had money in the house — sometimes over a thousand dollars. 
There was no bank near, and he made his report to the 
treasurer only once a month. Yet, during all this time, he 
was never once molested. Other buildings near him were 
robbed, but no one attempted to rob him. He committed 
himself, and all his interests, to the Lord, and he was graciously 
preserved. Once, when the charter of the road was renewed, 
the people denied the legality of the act. A mob assembled 
and tore down the gate. They ordered him out of the house 
that they might burn it. But he very decidedly refused to go 
at their bidding. He was not molested. 

Nor was his immunity due to his taking what is commonly 
called a prudent, popular course. He was an out-spoken, 
aggressive abolitionist, when the most of those around him 
were intensely pro-slavery, and the excitement of the slavery 
question ran high. He was an ardent temperance man among 
those whose chief drink was whisky. He refused to carry 
liquor, when in the transportation business, though the 
merchants, of whom he bought his goods, assured him that 



48 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

unless he did so, he could not make his living. At the end of 
the season, they were greatly surprised to learn that he had 
cleared two hundred dollars a month, when, as they said, every 
other man on the road had lost that year by the business. 

Whenever he stopped in camp, he was always preaching his 
doctrines. Once he was challenged by the keeper of the 
station, an ex-college professor, to discuss the slavery question 
in an orderly manner. He accepted the challenge, and before 
eleven o'clock at night, so completely silenced his antagonist, 
that, in dismay, he fled from the room and went to bed. 

Many of the stockholders of the road, for which he collected 
tolls, were firewaters from the South. With these he would 
sometimes have sharp controversies, and they would get very 
angry. But as they had full confidence in his honesty, they 
would not dismiss him. 

Have faith in God. He is able to take care of you, both 
soul and body. Be kind to all; do your duty faithfully; and 
then commit the keeping of all your interests to Him who 
never slumbers nor sleeps, and who has all power in heaven 
and in earth. 



"A SOFT ANSWER TURNETH AWAY WRATH." 



N^OTHING is more true than that "A soft answer turneth 
away wrath," and gentleness of spirit and expression 
has a most happy effect. The following is illustrative 
of this: "A merchant, in London, had a dispute with a Friend 
or Quaker, respecting the settlement of an account. The 
merchant was determined to bring the matter into court, a 
procedure which the Friend earnestly deprecated, using every 
argument in his power to convince the merchant of his error, 
but the latter remained inflexible. Desirous of making the 
last effort, he called at the house of the merchant one morn- 
ing, and asked the servant if his master was at home. The 
merchant, hearing the inquiry and knowing the voice, called 
aloud from the top of the stairs, ' Tell that rascal I am not at 



SKETCHES A ND A NE C DOTES. 49 

home.' The Friend, looking up toward him, calmly said, 
• Well, friend, God put thee in a better mind.' The merchant 
was affected by the meekness of the reply, and, after deliberately 
investigating the matter, he became convinced that he was 
wrong, and the Friend right. He requested to see him, and, 
after acknowledging his error, he said, ' I have one question to 
ask you, how were you able with such patience, on various 
occasions, to bear my abuse?' 'Friend,' replied the Friend, 
'I will tell thee: I was naturally as hot and violent as thou art; 
I knew that to indulge this temper was sinful, and I also found 
that it was imprudent. I observed that men in a passion 
always speak very loud, and hence I thought, if I could con- 
trol my voice, I could restrain my passion*. I have, therefore, 
made it a rule never to suffer my voice to raise above a certain 
key, and, by a careful observance of this rule, I have, with the 
blessing of God, entirely mastered and subdued my naturally 
impetuous temper.'" 



CAPTAIN BALL'S EXPERIENCE, AS RELATED BY HIMSELF. 



"T HAVE had a strange experience," said Captain Ball, 
speaking with much emotion. It began about three 
weeks ago. I had lately been making some very good 
trades; and one night, I was riding home, reckoning up my 
gains, and feeling a pride and triumph in the start I had got 
in the world by my own shrewdness and exertions. It was 
starlight, and very still; I could scarcely hear a noise but the 
field-crickets and the tramp of my horse on the dark road, 
when suddenly a voice said, ' What shall it profit a man if he 
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul f ' 

"Was it actually a voice?" I questioned. 

" No ; I knew it wasn't at the time. It was, I have no doubt, 
my own mind; or rather, the voice of the Holy Spirit in the 
conscience. But the expression was just as distinct and unex- 
pected as if it had been spoken by some person in my ear. I 
went to talk with my minister. I wanted to get into the 



50 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

church, where I thought I should be safe. I had no conception 
of repentance and a change of heart. I supposed our pastor 
would commence questioning me about doctrines, and so forth, 
to let me know what I would have to understand and believe 
before I could become a church member. But he didn't take 
any such course. He made me go into the house and sit 
down in his study, where he talked with me a long time about 
the blessedness of religion, and its value above all other things 
of this world, independently of its rewards hereafter. Then 
he said: 

" ' Captain Ball, do you know the first thing to be done, if 
you would be a Christian ? ' 

"'I do not know.* 

" ' The Christian life — the life of a faithful follower of Jesus 
Christ,' said he, 'can be founded only upon repentance. Now, 
it is easy to say we repent, but the only repentance that is 
worth anything, is an active repentance — by which I mean not 
only sorrow for sin, and an earnest desise to avoid it in the 
future, but one that goes to work, and seeks, as far as it is in 
our power, to make amends for every wrong we have ever 
done. Is there a person in the world, Captain Ball, who can 
look you in the face, and say you have wronged him ? ' 

" He knew my weak point," added the captain. " Every man 
has his weak point, and I suppose the lancet must be applied 
there first. That question was like sharp-scratching steel driven 
into my soul. I writhed and groaned inwardly, and struggled 
and perspired a long time before I could answer. I saw it was 
going to be dreadful hard for me to be a Christian. I meant, 
however, to get off as easily as I could. So I determined to 
confess something which I suppose was known to everybody 
who knows me — my horse trade with Peter Simmons last 
spring. 

" ' Did you wrong Peter ? ' asked the minister. 

"'I shaved him a little,' said I. 

"'How much do you think?' said he. 

" ' I let him have a ring-boned and wind-broken nag that I 
had physicked up to look pretty gay — worth, for actual service, 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 51 

not over ten dollars, and got in return a steady beast worth 
sixty dollars, and twenty-five dollars to boot. So I honestly 
think,' said I, 'that I shaved him out of about seventy-five 
dollars.' 

" 'And with seventy-five dollars in your possession, belonging 
to poor Peter Simmons, do you think you can commence a life 
of Christian purity ? Do you think that Christ will hear your 
prayers for pardon, with stolen money in your pocket ! ' said 
the minister. 

" I said something about a trade is a trade, and men must 
look out for themselves when they swap horses — but he cut 
me short. 

"'Your own soul,' said he, 'will not admit the excuses which 
your selfishness invents.' 

'"But the rule you apply,' said I, 'will cut off the heads of 
church members as well as mine. There's Deacon Rich; he 
trades in horses, and shaves when he can.' 

"'No matter,' said he, 'whose head is cut off; no matter 
what Deacon Rich does. You have to deal with your own 
soul, and with your Lord. And I tell you, whether you are 
out of the church or in it, a single dollar which you have 
unjustly and knowingly taken from any man, without rendering 
him its full value to the best of your ability — a single dollar, I 
say, will be like a mill-stone hung upon your neck, to sink 
your soul into the sea of spiritual death ! ' 

" I couldn't stand that. The Spirit of God used those words 
with terrible effect upon my heart. I was greatly agitated. 
The truth spoken by the pastor appealed to my understanding 
with irresistible power. I went away, but I couldn't rest. So 
I took seventy-five dollars, and went to Peter and paid him, 
making him promise not to tell anybody, for I was ashamed to 
have it known that I was conscience-stricken, and had paid 
back the money. 

"Then I went to the minister again, and told him what I 
had done. He didn't praise me as I thought he would. He 
took it as a matter of course, and no more merit in me than it 
is to wash my hands before I sit down to supper. On the 



52 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

contrary, he seemed to suspect that my hands were not quite 
clean yet. He wanted to know if I had wronged anybody else 
besides Peter. I tried to say no, but my conscience wouldn't 
let me. I could have told a plumper lie than that once without 
flinching — yes, and flattered my own heart to believe the lie. 
I was discouraged. I felt bitterly disheartened. It was, indeed, 
so much harder being a Christian than I supposed, that I 
regretted going to talk with the minister at all. Like the 
young man who had great possessions, I was on the point of 
going away sorrowful. But my heart burned within me, and I 
was forced to speak. 

"'In the way of business,' said I, 'no doubt I have taken 
advantage here and there — as everybody does-^as church 
members themselves do where they can.' 

" ' What everybody does is no rule for you and me, Captain 
Ball/ said the minister. ' It is to be Christians in the fullest 
sense — not simply church members — that we must strive with 
all our hearts. The fact of being in the' fold does not make 
the lamb ; there are wolves in the fold, alas ! but we are by no 
means justified in doing as the wolves do, even when they 
appear in sheep's clothing.' 

"I felt the rebuke. 'Well,' said I, 'there is Deacon Rich— I 
think he paid me a note twice. The first time he paid it we 
were transacting other business, and by some mistake the note 
wasn't destroyed. I found it among my papers afterward. I 
was a good deal excited, and lay awake more than one night 
thinking what I ought to do about it. The Deacon was 
a hard man, I considered, and took advantage of people 
when he could. He had driven more than one hard bargain 
with me.'" 

The Deacon, who was present, and heard these allusions to 
himself, whined and coughed uneasily. Captain Ball went on 
without appearing to mind him. 

"'So,' said I to the minister, 'I concluded I would serve the 
Deacon as he would probably have served me under the same 
circumstances. I kept the note by me a good while, and when 
I thought the particulars of our settlement had slipped his 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 53 

mind, I said to him one day, maybe he would like to take up 
that note, which had been due then a considerable time. He 
was surprised — looked excited and angry — said he had paid it, 
and held out stoutly for awhile ; but there was the note. There 
was no proof that it had ever been paid, and finally he took 
out his pocket-book, and, with some pretty hard words, paid 
it over again, with interest.' 

" 'And now,' said the minister, * what are you going to do 
about it?' 

"'I suppose,' said I, 'the money must be paid back.' 

" So I went to the Deacon the next day, told him that, on 
reflection, I was convinced that he was right and I was wrong 
about the first payment of the note, and returned the money — 
one hundred and thirteen dollars — a good deal to his aston- 
ishment. 

"I hoped then all was right," continued Captain Ball. "I 
tried to satisfy my conscience that it was. But I was afraid to 
to go back to the minister, he has such a way of stirring up 
the conscience and finding mud at the bottom, when we flatter 
ourselves, that because it is out of sight, there is no impurity 
there. And I knew, that as long as I dreaded to see the 
minister, something must be wrong; and, on looking carefully 
into my heart, I found the little matter of a mortgage which I 
had foreclosed on a poor man, and got away his farm, when 
he had no suspicion but I would give him time to redeem it. 
By that means I had got into my possession property worth 
two thousand dollars, for which I did not actually pay, and for 
which Isaac Dorr never actually realized more than half that 
amount. But the proceeding was entirely legal, and so I tried 
to excuse myself. But my awakened conscience kept saying, 
4 You have taken a poor man's land without giving him a just 
return; the law of God condemns you, although the law of 
man sanctions the wrong. You shall have no peace of soul; 
your heart will burn you, until with justice, you wipe out 
your own injustice to him, and to all others whom you have 
wronged.' 

"Against the decree of my conscience I rebelled a long time. 



54 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

It was hard for me to raise a thousand dollars, together with 
the interest due from the time the mortgage was foreclosed; 
and it was like taking a portion of my life, to be obliged to 
subtract so much money from my gains, and give it to a man 
who had no legal claim upon me. I groaned and mourned 
over it in secret, and tried to pray; but that mortgage came 
right up between my prayer and God, and heaven looked dark 
and frowning through it. At last I could not resist the appeals 
of conscience any longer, and I went again to the minister. I 
told him my trouble and asked him what I should do. 

" ' There is a simple test,' said he. ' Do you love your neigh- 
bor as yourself? If you do, you will be just to him, if it takes 
from you the last dollar you have in the world.' 

" That was a terrible sentence. I went out staggering from 
it as if I had received a blow. ' Oh God,' I said, ' how can I 
be a Christian ! " But I had help beyond myself, otherwise I 
could never have ended that struggle. I knelt before God, and 
solemnly vowed for His sake, for the sake of His pardon and 
love, I would not only do justly to the poor man I had wronged, 
but would give up, if need be, all that I had in the world, so 
that I might find peace in Him. A strange, soothing influence 
came over my soul, and a voice seemed to say, ' Though you 
lose all you have, God and Christ, and the blessings of a heart 
pure and at peace, shall be left you — the best and only true 
source of happiness and life.' And in the solemn night time, 
after I gave up the struggle, that comfort seemed to me so 
great and precious, that I felt willing, if it w r ould only stay 
with me, to accept poverty, and to go into the world poor and 
despised, hugging that priceless blessing to my heart. The 
next day I was as light as if I had wings. Nothing could keep 
me from going to Isaac Dorr, with a couple of hundred dollars 
in my pocket, and a note for the remainder of what I owed 
him. 

"Well," said the narrator, with tears running down his 
cheeks, " I only wish that every person here could have seen 
the Dorr family when I visited them and made knov/n my 
errand. Poor Isaac had grown discouraged, and had just 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 55 

made up his mind to quit his wife and children and go to 
California. His children were crying, and his wife in an 
extremity of distress and despair. She received me a great 
deal better than I anticipated; I had acted according to law, 
she said, and Isaac, careless and improvident, was greatly to 
blame. 

" ' Yes, said Isaac, with the firmness of a desperate man, ' it 
was a savage game you played me, but I was a fool ever to 
get in debt as I did, and then fancy that any man would not 
take an advantage when the law permits it. I am ruined in 
consequence, and here you see this woman and babes — ' 

"The poor fellow broke down as he looked at them, and 
cried like a child. 

" ' Isaac,' said I, as soon as I could speak, ' I have come to 
show you that a man can be honest even when the law doesn't 
compel him to be. I want to do right, because God com- 
mands it, and I have come to tell you that you needn't leave 
your wife and babes yet, unless you prefer to.' 

"'Prefer to — go off into a strange country, and leave them 
here to suffer,' he cried, and he caught the children in his 
arms, and wrung his wife's hand, and sobbed as if his heart 
would break. 

" Then I counted out the money I had brought, and explained 
what I intended to do, and gave him the note; and such sur- 
prise and happiness I never saw. They would have kissed my 
feet, if I would have let them. It seemed to me as if heaven 
were opened then and there — and it was opened in my heart, 
with such a flood of light and joy as I had never experienced, 
or thought possible before. 

"My friends," added the captain, his once hard voice now 
almost as mellow as a woman's, his cheeks still moist with 
tears, "I have been constrained to make this confession; I 
thank you for listening to it. The minister tells me a man 
may be a church member and not a Christian. I mean to be 
a Christian first, and if I fail — " 

He could proceed no further, but sat down with an emotion 
more effective than any words. 



56 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

I have nothing to add to this narrative, except that he 
became a church member, and that his example of thorough 
repentance, of child-like faith in Christ, and of vigorous, 
practical, every-day righteousness, elevated the standard of 
Christianity among my people. 



PRESERVATION FROM DANGER. 



A FACT, related by a minister of the Society of Friends, 
shows at once the primitive simplicity, which still pre- 
vails in some retired districts of England, and the 
evident power of faith in Providence over the spirit of evil. 

In one of the thinly populated dales of that very beautiful, 
and yet, by parts, very bleak and dreary region, the Peak of 
Derbyshire, stood a single house far from neighbors. It was 
inhabited by a farmer and his family, who lived in such a state 
of isolation, so unmolested by intruders, and unapprehensive 
of danger, that they were hardly in the habit of fastening their 
door at night. The farmer, who had a great distance to go to 
market, was sometimes late before he got back. On these 
occasions, the good woman used to retire to rest at the usual 
time, and her husband returning found no latch or bolt to 
obstruct his entrance. But one time the wife hearing some 
one come up to the door and enter the house, supposed it was 
her husband; but, after the usual time had elapsed, and he did 
not come to bed, she got up and went down-stairs, when her 
terror and astonishment may be imagined, for she saw a great 
sturdy fellow in the act of reconnoitering for plunder. At the 
first view of him, she afterward said, she felt ready to drop ; 
but, being naturally courageous, and of deep religious expe- 
rience, she immediately recovered sufficient self-possession to 
avoid any outcry, and to walk with apparent firmness to a chair 
which stood at one side of the fire-place. The marauder imme- 
diately seated himself in another chair which stood opposite, 
and fixed his eyes upon her with a most savage expression. 
Her courage was now almost spent; but recollecting herself, 



SKE TCHES A ND A NE CDOTES. 57 

she put up an inward prayer to the Almighty for protection, 
and threw herself upon His providence. She immediately felt 
her internal strength revived, and looked steadfastly at the 
man, who now had drawn from his pocket a large clasp-knife, 
and, with a murderous expression in his eyes, appeared ready 
to spring upon her. She, however, evinced no visible emotion ; 
she said not a word, but continued to pray for deliverance, or 
resignation, and to look upon the fearful man with a calm 
seriousness. He rose up, looked at her, then at the knife; 
then wiped it across his hand; then again eagerly glanced at 
her; when at once a sudden damp seemed to fall upon him; 
his eyes seemed to blanch before her still, fixed gaze; he 
closed his knife and went out. At a single spring she reached 
the door, shut the bolt with a convulsive rapidity, and fell 
senseless on the floor. When she recovered from her swoon, 
she was filled with the utmost anxiety on account of her 
husband, lest the man should meet him by the way. But 
presently she heard his well-known step; and let him in with 
a heart trembling with mingled agitation and thankfulness. 



TEE LEARNED PROFESSOR AND TEE COBBLER. 



" If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become 
a fool that he may be wise." — i Cor., 3: 18. 

THERE resided in Paris some years ago, an eminent 
journalist, who was a professor in a college, and a man 
noted for his learning, but who knew nothing of true 
religion, not having been a learner in the school of Christ. 
At a time when he was on a visit to a friend, residing near 
Lyons, he frequently met with Pastor Fisch, a worthy Christian. 
One day, as he was walking in the grounds of his friend, 
he met this good man who was reading the Scriptures, and 
remarked to him, " I have a great admiration of your conduct 
as a Christian, and have wished to know what are the principles 
that seem to produce such an effect upon your life." After 
telling him of the desire he, himself, felt of becoming religious, 



58 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

he said, " If you have any book which states the doctrines you 
profess, and the principles by which you live, I should be 
glad to read it." "I have," replied the pastor, "an admirable 
treatise, written by one of the early converts to the Christian 
faith, and I will lend it to you. It is the letter of the Apostle 
Paul to the Christians at Rome." 

" Nonsense," said the learned professor, " I have repeatedly 
read it, and found it an unintelligible jargon." 

"Well," was the reply, "this is the authoritative exposition 
of our faith, and I would have you read' it carefully." 

A few days after this they met again, and on inquiring of 
the professor if he had fulfilled his promise, he said, " I have, 
but it is perfect nonsense. I read the first chapter, and found 
it unintelligible; the second was worse; and, on reading the 
third chapter, I threw the book on the ground in disgust." 

With all his great learning he could not understand it. He 
was told that human learning was opposed to a real acquaint- 
ance with the Scriptures, and it was nothing less than the 
Spirit of God that must open the heart, and give it a right and 
profitable understanding of the Scriptures, even a measure of 
the same Spirit that first gave them forth, and that, under the 
teachings of this Spirit, the illiterate had a better understanding 
of them, than those who were better educated had, if without 
its illuminating influence. In proof of this the pastor offered 
to accompany him to see a poor unlearned cobbler. 

"A good joke, truly," said the professor, but, on being 
assured that the proposal was made in earnest, he added, "I 
shall be glad to see one of these wonderful ignoramuses, who 
can understand this Epistle to the Romans." 

When they reached the cobbler's humble cot and the pastor 
had introduced his learned friend to him, he departed, leaving 
them alone together. After the pastor had left them, the 
professor, addressing the humble cobbler, said, "Pastor Fisch 
tells me you profess to know something of the Scriptures. 
We are here alone, and I will tell no one what will pass, so 
just confess that you do not understand that book, for it 
stands to reason that if I, an educated man, and a teacher in 



SKE TCHES A ND ANECDOTES. 59 

the University, can make nothing of it, still less can you, whom 
I perceive to be without education." 

"Ah ! but I have something that you have not, with all your 
learning," said the cobbler. 

"And what is that, pray ? " 

"The Holy Spirit," said the Christian, solemnly, "and if you 
are brought to ask light from Him, you, too, may understand 
the Scriptures." 

He then told his learned listener, in his own simple, 
unadorned language, the story of God's dealings with his soul, 
and how He had shown him that he was a poor, helpless 
sinner; and that, when he saw this, how he was given to see 
by the same blessed, illuminating Spirit, that in Jesus he had a 
perfect Saviour, just such as he needed; and how, in turning 
to Him, and seeking an acquaintance with Him, he had 
experienced the efficacy of His cleansing and sanctifying 
power, creating in him a clean heart, and making him a new 
creature, a fit temple for the Lord, by his Holy Spirit, to dwell 
in. Further telling him, that it was a measure of this light, 
grace and Holy Spirit, that now enlightened his understanding, 
and gave him a right understanding of the Scriptures, which 
before had been as a sealed book to him. 

Professor T remained all morning in conversation with 

his humble instructor, and then, on meeting Pastor Fisch soon 
after, he exclaimed, with an emotion he could not conceal, " I 
thought that you were well acquainted with the Bible, but I 
find that you spoke the truth, when you said that your cobbler 
knew it far better than you did. I have had a lesson to-day, 
such as I never had before." 

Thus the Lord had opened this proud skeptic's heart in the 
cobbler's stall. The Scriptures, which before had been sealed 
and hidden from his understanding, were now unfolded to his 
view, and became his delight; and, to those who are familiar 
with the ways of the Lord, it will not be surprising, that the 
third chapter of Romans was an intrumental means for his 
enlightenment. The Spirit revealed to him Jesus, the Son of 
God, the Saviour of sinners, and he became a new man. His 



60 SEE TCHES AND AN EC DO TES. 

heart had been humbled, and he sought a place at the feet of 
Jesus, where he might learn of Him, who continues to teach 
as never man taught He ever after continued a humble 
follower of the Lord Jesus, and became an earnest laborer in 
the ministry of the Gospel in Paris, and was often found visit- 
ing among the poor, the sick, and the dying; telling them of a 
Saviour's love, and the all-sufficiency of His saving Grace. 
Many of his learned associates, among whom he was once 
distinguished and honored, now regarded him with contempt- 
uous pity, but he could now understand the paradox of Paul : 
" If any man seemeth to- be wise in this world, let him become 
a fool that he may be wise." 



'BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS CHARITY." 



AN INCIDENT, in the life of a young man in Boston, 
came to our knowledge the other day; which, from the 
spice of romance it contains, as well as an illustration 
of what a vast deal of good a slight bestowal of charity some- 
times does, makes it worthy of record. 

As the young clerk and a friend were passing hastily through 
Broad street, one raw, chilly day in November, a few years 
ago, they saw standing near the corner of India street, as they 
turned to go down to the wharf, a poor old woman, thinly clad 
in a calico dress, tattered bonnet and shawl, holding on her 
arm a small basket, in which were a few uninviting apples, 
which she vainly offered to the hurrying pedestrians who 
passed her. Her stockingless feet thrust into old slippers, and 
a few threads of white hair scattered over her forehead, she 
stood in the keen, searching wind as our two clerks drew near. 
" Poor old woman ! " said one, as he approached the poor 
creature, and with a sudden impulse he plunged his hand into 
his pocket, and, grabbing every cent it contained, threw it into 
her basket — the old woman's " God bless you ! " followed him on 
the frosty air as he rapidly passed away. His companion, who 
witnessed the act, ejaculated at the moment of its performance : 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 61 

"Bill, you are a fool to throw your money away in that 
manner on street beggars." 

"Perhaps I am," said the other, "but I could not help it; 
she may be an impostor, but I do not believe it." 

The next day the affair was forgotten, and, indeed, might 
never have been remembered, had it not been brought to mind 
in the following manner. 

The next summer, one day, as the young man was busy 
over his ledgers, in an inner counting-room at his employer's 
store, he was summoned to the outer office by the message 
that some one wished to see him. Going out, he saw waiting 
a fine-looking sailor, in a nautical costume, who eyed him 
closely as he approached. 

" Did you wish to see me, sir ? " 

"Is your name William ?" 

"Yes, sir, that's my name." 

"Blue eyes, light complexion, stands straight, speaks quick," 
said the sailor, half soliloquizing. 

"Yes, you must be the man,, you look just like it," said the tar. 

"Just like what?" said the young man a little surprised. 

"Why, I will tell you ! Overhaul your log, and tell me if 
you recollect seeing a poor woman, about ten months ago, 
shivering in the cold on Broad street, and trying to sell a few 
articles to keep her from starving, and you threw a dollar and 
a half in silver change into her basket, and walked on — you 
did — didn't you — you can remember it, can't you ? " said the 
sailor, with feverish anxiety. 

Somewhat staggered by the questioner's eagerness, it was 
a moment or two before the young man could collect his 
thoughts, when he replied that he did recollect throwing some 
change into a poor woman's basket, but that the circumstances 
had passed out of his memory. 

"Ah ! but she hasn't forgotten ! " said the sailor warmly, 
"but do you recollect what the man who walked with you 
said ? " he now inquired. 

"Why, yes; now that I recall the circumstance, I think I do. 
He said, ' Bill, what a fool you are to throw your money away.' " 



62 SKE TCHES AND AN EC DO TES. 

"That proves it," said the sailor joyfully, and dashing his 
hat on the floor, he seized the astonished young man by the 
hand, with a hearty grasp, saying, " God bless your soul, sir ! 
you saved my mother's life, you did — I knew you must be the 
man," continued he, to the astonished clerk, "the moment I 
set my eyes on you ; why, bless your generous heart, that poor 
old woman was my mother," said the sailor, a big tear running 
over his brown cheek. 

Drawing his guest aside, the clerk learned that he was 
second mate of a ship now in port; that he had been searching 
for his mother's benefactor nearly three weeks, upon almost 
every wharf in that part of the city; that during his absence, 
the winter before, he had been taken sick in a foreign port, his 
mother had met with misfortunes, had heard nothing of him, 
and was deprived of the provision he had made for her support 
during his absence; that expecting to hear from him, she 
managed to eke out an existence till the chilling month of 
November found her without food, fire or clothing, and drove 
her to the street to procure them ; that the handful of change, 
which the young man threw into her basket, procured her 
necessaries till other means fortunately reached her. 

In answer to the clerk's inquiry, as to what clue he had to 
direct him in his search, he replied: 

" My mother marked you, sir, although you walked off so 
quickly, and her description of the color of your eyes and 
hair, and of your height, is correct. Furthermore, she heard 
your companion call you ' Bill/ and say something about the 
wharf, and she concluded you must be in a store on the wharf; 
so I've been into every store on the wharves, where there 
were any Williams, and overhauled about two dozen 'Bills,' 
but didn't run alongside the true 'Bill' till I found you, sir. 
There," continued the sailor, "that's my yarn. I felt I could 
not rest easy till I thanked you — and that's what I've called 
to do. My old, poor old mother, is well provided for now, 
and I'm second mate of a ship. God bless you, sir! I'll 
never forget your name, and may you never know what it is 
to be poor!" 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 63 

And the sailor wrung the hand of his benefactor, whose 
heart glowed with the richness of the poor man's blessing as 
he departed. 

THE CONVERTED ACTRESS. 



AN ACTRESS, in one of the English provincial or country 
theatres, was one day passing through the streets of 
the town in which she then resided, when her attention 
was attracted by the sound of voices, which she heard in a 
poor cottage before her. Curiosity prompted her to look in at 
an open door, when she saw a few poor people sitting together, 
one of whom, at the moment of her observation, was giving 
out the following hymn, which the others joined in singing: 

" Depth of mercy ! can there be 
Mercy still reserved for me ? " 

The tune was sweet and simple, but she heeded it not. The 
words had riveted her attention, and she stood motionless, 
until she was invited to enter by the woman of the house, who 
had observed her standing at the door. She complied, and 
remained during a prayer, which was offered up by one of the 
little company; and, uncouth as the expressions sounded, 
perhaps, to her ears, they carried with them a conviction of 
sincerity on the part of the person thus employed. She quit- 
ted the cottage, but the words of the hymn followed her. She 
could not banish them from her mind, and at last she resolved 
to procure the book that contained them. She did so, and the 
more she read it, the more decided her serious impressions 
became. She attended the ministry of the Gospel, read her 
hitherto neglected and despised Bible, and bowed herself in 
humility and contrition of heart before Him, whose mercy she 
now felt she needed, whose sacrifices are those of a broken 
heart and a contrite spirit, and who has declared that with 
such sacrifices he is well pleased. 

Her profession she determined at once and forever to 
renounce; and, for some little time, excused herself from 



64 SKE TCHES AND AN EC DO TES. 

appearing on the stage, without, however, disclosing her 
change of sentiments, or making known her resolution to 
finally leave it. 

The manager of the theatre called upon her one morning, 
and requested her to sustain the principal character in a new 
play, which was to be performed the next week for his benefit. 
She had frequently performed this character to general admi- 
ration ; but she now, however, told him of her resolution never 
to appear as an actress again, at the same time giving her 
reasons. At first he attempted to overcome her scruples by 
ridicule, but this was unavailing; he then represented the loss 
he would incur by her refusal, and concluded his arguments 
by promising, that if she would act on this occasion, it would 
be the last request of the kind he should ever make. Unable 
to resist his solicitations, she promised to appear, and on the 
appointed evening went to the theatre. The character she 
assumed required her, on her entrance, to sing a song; and, 
when the curtain went up, the orchestra began the accompani- 
ment; but she stood as if lost in thought, and as one forgetting 
all around her, and her own situation. The music ceased, but 
she did not sing; supposing her to be overcome by embarrass- 
ment, the band commenced again. A second time they paused 
for her to begin, but still she did not open her lips. A third 
time the air was played, and then, with clasped hands, and eyes 
suffused with tears, she sang, not the song, but 

" Depth of mercy ! can there be 
Mercy still reserved for me ? " 

It is almost needless to add that the performance was sud- 
denly ended ; many ridiculed, though some were induced from 
that memorable night to " consider their ways/' and to reflect 
on the wonderful power of that religion, which could so influ- 
ence the heart and change the life of one so vain, and so 
evidently pursuing " the road to ruin." 

It might be satisfactory to the reader to know, that the 
change in her character was as permanent as it was singular. 
She walked consistently with her profession of religion for a 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 65 

number of years, and at length became the wife of a minister 
of the Gospel. 



STICK TO YOUR BUSH. 



THE secret of the man who got rich by " sticking to his 
bush " will bear repetition even in these times. In answer 
to a question as to how he became so very successful, he 
told the following story: 

" I will tell you how it was. One day, when I was a lad, a 
party of boys and girls were going to pick blackberries. I 
wanted to go with them, but was afraid father would not let 
me. When I told him what was going on, he at once gave me 
permission to go with them. I could hardly contain myself. 

" I rushed into the kitchen, got a basket, and asked mother 
for a luncheon. I had the basket on my arm, and was just 
going out at the gate, when my father called me back. He 
took my hand and said in a very gentle voice: 

"'Joseph, what are you going to do?' 

"'To pick berries,' I replied. 

"'Then, Joseph, I want to tell you one thing. It is this: 
when you find a pretty good bush, do not leave it to seek for 
a better one. The other boys and girls will run about, picking 
a little here and a little there, passing a good deal of time, and 
getting but a very few berries.' 

" I went and had a capital time. No sooner had one found 
a bush than he called all the rest, and they left their several 
places, and ran off to the new-found treasure. Not content 
more than a minute or two in one place, they rambled over 
the whole pasture, got very tired, and at night had very few 
berries. 

" My father's words kept ringing in my ears, and I ' stuck to 
my bush.' When I had done with one I found another, and 
finished that, then I took another. When night came I had a 
basket full of ripe berries, more than all the others put together, 
and was not half so tired as they were. I went home happy. 



66 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

But when I entered I found my father had been taken ill. He 
looked at my basket full of ripe blackberries, and said : ' Well 
done, Joseph. Was I not right when I told you always to 
stick to your bush ?' 

" He died in a few days after, and I had to make my way in 
the world as best I could My father's words sank deep into 
my mind, and I never forgot the experience of that blackberry 
party — 'I stuck to my bush.' When I had a fair place and 
was doing tolerably well, I did not leave it, and spend weeks 
and months seeking one I thought might be a little better. 
When other young men said, ' Come with us, and we will make 
a fortune in a few weeks,' I shook my head and ' stuck to my 
bush.' Presently my employers offered to take me into business 
with them. I staid with the old house until the principals died, 
and then I had everything that I wanted The habit of sticking 
to my business led people to trust me, and gave me a character. 
I owe all I have to this motto : ' Stick to your bush.' " 



THE ORPHAN BOY. 



HAVING taken a great deal of pains to learn the histories 
of boys on the Erie Canal, and having found many of 
them deeply interesting, I will relate one (that of an 
orphan), as it was told to me, by one who knew all the particu- 
lars. It was the more interesting to me, as I was myself 
acquainted with the individual. 

A lad, a driver, was taken sick, but continued to drive until 
he could hardly sit on his horse. In starting a boat out of a 
lock one day, being very weak, he fell from his horse, struck 
his head against a stone, cut a hole in his head, and became 
senseless. The brutal captain took him up, threw him into an 
old board shanty beside the lock, put his other boy on the 
horse, and drove along. 

There was no one who saw him but the lock-tender, and he 
was " of the same piece " with the rascally captain. The boy 
was in so bad a condition that he did not know anything for 



SKE TCHES AND AN EC DO TES. 67 

some time. At length his senses returned, but he could not 
speak, if to save his life. He seemed to be completely palsied, 
and could not move any more than a dead person. 

At length a man came along, and seeing him lying in the 
shanty, said, " Here is a boy with his head all cut open ! 
Who is he?" The lock-tender answered that he was the 
wickedest boy on the canal. 

"What are you going to do with him?" asked the man. 

" Let him die," replied the lock-tender, " I wish he was dead." 

The boy heard the answers, but he could not speak. Several 
other questions were asked, and like answers given. 

The boy thought he must die there, for it was a very hot 
day in July, and the boards were off the west side of the 
shanty, so that, when the sun was about two hours high, it 
shone full in his face. He thought, if he had been in posses- 
sion of the whole world, he would have given it freely for a 
half-pint of water; but he could not speak, and he made up 
his mind that he must die. 

Just at dusk, the "good Samaritan" came along, and asked, 
"What boy is this? He looks as though he were dead." 
The lock-tender made the same reply as on former occasions. 
Said the man (he was a Christian), "I don't know but he is 
dead, but, if he is alive, I shall try to save him." He turned 
the lad over, and upon examination found him yet living. He 
then told his own boy, who was with him, to run home, and 
bring his one-horse wagon with a bed in it He took the boy 
home with him, washed his wounds, and procured a physician ; 
but it was four days before he could speak. After awhile, as 
he grew better, the man asked if it were true that he was the 
worst boy on the canal. He began to cry, and said he supposed 
he was ; but he had been constantly treated like a slave for five 
years, which was the time he had been on the canal. He had 
never had a kind word spoken to him; he was an orphan, and 
had no one to take his part; had been cheated out of his 
wages, and he did lie, steal, and get drunk. 

The man told him he might be a man if he would only 
behave correctly, and, advised him, when he got well, to hire 



68 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

himself out to some one who would pay him, lay up his wages, 
and go to school in winter, when navigation would be closed. 
He soon told the man, that he had made up his mind to do as 
he had advised him. He went back to the canal, hired out to 
a good captain, became a good boy, laid up his money, went 
to school in winter, and continued in this course for five years. 
By this time he had an excellent business education, was 
appointed to the office of captain of a boat in a line on the 
canal, became very much respected, and obtained a good 
property. 



WHERE DID HE GET THAT LAW? 



AN AGED lawyer of great eminence and talents, who, 
from early life had imbibed infidel principles, one day 
met a Christian man, who was also a lawyer, and said 
to him, "I wish, sir, to examine into the truth of the Christian 
religion. What books would you advise me to read on the 
evidences of Christianity?" 

The elder, surprised at the inquiry, replied, " That is a ques- 
tion, sir, you ought to have settled long ago. You ought not to 
have put off a subject so important to this late period of life." 

"Is it too late?" said the inquirer; "I never knew much 
about it, but I always supposed that Christianity was rejected 
by the great majority of learned men. I intend, however, now 
to examine the subject thoroughly myself. I have upon me, 
as my physician says, a mortal disease, under which I may live 
a year and a half or two years, but not probably longer. What 
books, sir, would you advise me to read ? " 

"The Bible," said the elder. 

" I believe you don't understand me," resumed the unbeliever, 
surprised in his turn; I wish to investigate the truth of the 
Bible." 

"I would advise you, sir," repeated the elder, "to read the 
Bible ; and I will give you my reasons. Most infidels are very 
ignorant of the Scriptures. Now to reason on any subject 



5 KE TCHES A ND A NE CDOTES. 69 

with correctness, we must understand what it is about which 
we reason. In the next place, I consider the internal evidence, 
of the truth of the Sacred Scriptures, stronger than the 
external evidence." 

"And where shall I begin my investigation ? " inquired the 
unbeliever. "At the New Testament?" "No," replied the 
elder; "begin at the beginning — at Genesis." 

The infidel bought a commentary, went home, and sat down 
to the serious study of the Scriptures. He applied all his 
strong and well-disciplined powers of mind to the Bible, to try 
rigidly but impartially its truth. 

As he went on in his perusal, he received occasional calls 
from the elder. The infidel freely remarked upon what he 
had read, and stated his objections. He liked this passage — 
he thought that touching and beautiful — but he could not 
credit a third. 

One evening the elder called and found the unbeliever 
walking the room with a dejected look, his mind apparently 
absorbed in thought. He continued, not noticing that any one 
had come in, busily to trace and retrace his steps. The elder 
at length spoke : 

"You seem, sir, to be in a brown study. Of what are you 
thinking?" 

"I have been reading," replied the infidel, "the moral law." 

"Well, what do you think of it?" asked the elder. 

"I will tell you what I used to think," answered the infidel. 
"I supposed that Moses was the leader of a horde of banditti; 
that, having a strong mind, he acquired great influence over 
superstitious people; and, that on Mount Sinai he played off 
some sort of fire-works, to the amazement of his ignorant 
followers, who imagined, in their mingled fear and superstition, 
that the exhibition was supernatural." 

"But w r hat do you think now?" interposed the elder. 

"I have been looking," said the infidel, into the nature of 
that law. I have been trying to see whether I can add any- 
thing to it, or take anything from it, so as to make it better. 
Sir, I cannot. It is perfect? 



70 SKETCHES A ND A NE CD TES. 

"The first commandment," continued he, "directs us to 
make the Creator the object of our supreme love and reverence. 
That is right If He be our Creator, Preserver, and Supreme 
Benefactor, we ought to treat Him, and none other, as such. 
The second forbids idolatry. That certainly is right. The 
third forbids profanity. The fourth fixes a time for religious 
worship; and if there be a God, He ought surely to be worship- 
ped. It is suitable that there should be an outward homage, 
significant of our inward regard If God be worshipped, it is 
proper that some time should be set apart for that purpose, 
when all may worship him harmoniously, and without inter- 
ruption. One day in seven is certainly not too much, and I do 
not know that it is too little. The fifth defines the peculiar 
duties arising from family relations. Injuries to our neighbor 
are then classified by the moral law. They are divided into 
offenses against life, chastity, property, and character. And" 
said he, applying a legal idea with legal acuteness, " I notice 
that the greatest offense in each class is expressly forbidden. 
Thus, the greatest injury to life is murder; to chastity, adultery; 
to property, theft; to character, perjury. Now the greater 
offense must include the less of the same kind. Murder must 
include every injury to life; adultery, every injury to purity; 
and so of the rest. And the moral code is closed and perfected 
by a command forbidding every improper desire in regard to 
our neighbors. 

"Ihave been thinking," he proceeded, "where did Moses 
get that law ? * I have read history ; the Egyptians and the 
adjacent nations were idolaters; so were the Greeks and 
Romans; and the wisest and best Greeks or Romans never 
gave a code of morals like this. Where did Moses get this 
law, which surpasses the wisdom and philosophy of the most 
enlightened ages ? He lived at a period comparatively barbar- 
ous, but he has given a law in which the learning and sagacity 
of all subsequent times can detect no flaw. Where did he get 

* It is a revelation, from the Creator Himself, as to what is desirable to Him, 
and acceptable from His creature man — which is information, that no man, ncr set 
of men, could get, except from Himself. 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 71 

it ? He could not have soared so far above his age as to have 
devised it himself. It came down from heaven. I am convinced 
of the truth of the religion of the Bible." 

The infidel — infidel no longer — remained to his death a firm 
believer in the truth of Christianity. 



THE WIDOW'S SON AND HIS BIBLE, 



THERE was a pious widow, living in the northern part of 
England, on whom devolved the sole care of a large 
family, consisting of seven daughters and one son. It 
was her chief anxiety to train up her children in those virtuous 
and religious habits, which promote the present happiness and 
the immortal welfare of man. Her efforts were crowned with 
the best success, so far as the female branches of her family 
were concerned. But, alas ! her boy proved ungrateful for her 
care, and became her scourge and her cross. He loved worldly 
company and pleasure; till, having impoverished his circum- 
stances, it became necessary that he should go to sea. When 
his mother took leave of him she gave him a New Testament, 
inscribed with his name and her own, solemnly and tenderly 
entreating that he would keep the book, and read it for her sake. 
He was borne far away upon the bosom of the trackless deep, 
and year after year elapsed v/itout tidings of her boy. She 
occasionally visited parts of the island remote from her own 
residence, and particularly the metropolis; and, in whatever 
company she was cast, she made it a point to inquire for the 
ship in which her son sailed, if perchance she might hear 
some tidings of the beloved object, who was ever uppermost 
in her thoughts. On one occasion, she accidently met, in a 
party in London, a sea captain, of whom she made her accus- 
tomed inquiries. He informed her that he knew the vessel, 
and that she had been wrecked; that he also knew a youth of 

the name of Charles ; and added, that he was so depraved 

and profligate a lad, that it were a good thing if he, and all 
like him, were at the bottom of the sea. 



72 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

Pierced to her inmost soul, this unhappy mother withdrew 
from the house, and resolved in future upon strict retirement, 
in which she might at once indulge and hide her hopeless 
grief. "I shall go down- to the grave," was her language, 
"mourning for my son." She fixed her residence at one of 
the seaports on the northern coast. After the lapse of some 
years, a half-naked sailor knocked at her door, to ask relief. 
The sight of a sailor was always interesting to her, and never 
failed to awaken recollections and emotions, better imagined 
than described. She heard his tale. He had seen great perils 
in the deep, had been several times wrecked, but said he had 
never been so dreadfully destitute as he was some years back, 
when himself and a fine young gentleman were the only indi- 
viduals, of a whole ship's crew, that were saved. " We were 
cast away on a desert island, where, after seven days and 
nights, I closed his eyes. Poor fellow, I shall never forget it." 
And here the tears stole down his weather-beaten cheeks. 
"He read day and night in a little book, which he said his 
mother gave him, and which was the only thing he saved. It 
was his companion every moment; he wept for his sins, he 
prayed, he kissed the book; he talked of nothing but this 
book and his mother; and at last he gave it to me, with many 
thanks for my poor services. ' There, Jack,' said he, * take this 
book, and keep it, and read it, and may God bless you — it's all 
that I've got.' And then he clasped my hand and died in 
peace." "Is all this true?" said the trembling, astonished 
mother. "Yes, madam, every word of it." And then, drawing 
from his ragged jacket pocket a little book, much battered and 
time-worn, he held it up, exclaiming, "And here's the very 
book, too." She seized the Testament, descried her own hand- 
writing, and beheld the name of her son, coupled with her. 
own, on the cover. She gazed, she read, she wept, she rejoiced. 
She seemed to hear a voice, which said, "Behold! thy son 
liveth." Amidst her conflicting emotions, she was ready to 
exclaim, " Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, 
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." "Will you part with 
that book, my honest fellow ? " said the mother, anxious now 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 73 

to possess the precious relic. " No, madam," was the answer, 
" Not for any money — not for all the world. He gave it to me 
with his dying hand. I have more than once lost my all since 
I got it, without losing this treasure, the value of which, I 
hope, I have learned for myself; and I will never part with it, 
till I part with the breath out of my body." 



A WORD IN SEASON. 



KILSTEIN, a pious German minister, once heard a labor- 
ing man use the most awful curses and imprecations in 
a fit of passion, without reproving him for it. This so 
troubled him that he could scarcely sleep the following night. 
In the morning he arose early, and soon saw the man coming 
along, and addressed him as follows : 

"My friend, it is you I am waiting to see." 

" You are mistaken," replied the man; "you have never seen 
me before." 

"Yes, I saw you yesterday," said Kilstein, "while returning 
from your work, and heard you praying." 

"What! heard me pray ?" said the man. "I am sure that 
you are mistaken, for I never prayed in my life." 

"And yet," calmly and earnestly replied the minister, "if 
God had heard your prayer you would not be here, but in hell ; 
for I heard you beseeching God, that He might strike you with 
blindness and condemn you to hell-fire." 

The man turned pale, and trembling said, " Dear sir, do you 
call this prayer ? Yes, it is true ; I did this very thing." 

"Now, my friend," continued Kilstein, "as you acknowledge 
it, it is my duty to beseech you, to seek with the same earn- 
estness the salvation of your soul, as you have hitherto its 
damnation, and I will pray to God that He will have mercy 
upon you."' 

From this time the man regularly attended upon the ministry 
of Kilstein, and ere long was brought in humble repentance 
to Christ as a believer. 



74 SKETCHES A ND AN EC DO TES. 

"A word in season, how good it is ! " " Be instant in season 
and out of season ; rebuke, reprove, exhort with all long suffer- 
ing and teaching." 



INGRATITUDE. 



AS Geraldine Hooper was standing on the railroad platform 
at Norfolk, England, her attention was called to a game- 
keeper, standing on the other side of the line, with a 
dog by him. The man had the reputation of being an irre- 
ligious character. She quickly crossed the line, went up to 
him, and, stroking his four-footed friend, said cordially, " What 
a beautiful dog you have here ! " " Yes," said the man, rather 
gruffly; "but take care he doesn't bite you. He is not partic- 
ularly fond of strangers." " Oh, he won't bite me. Dogs know 
who are fond of them. No doubt you are fond of him?" 
"That I am." "Do you feed your dog?" "Yes ma'am." 
" House him ? " " Yes, of course." " Does your dog obey your 
word of command ? " " Yes ma'am." "And you would be disap- 
pointed if he did not love and obey you ? " " That I should," 
then looking proudly at his dog, "but Rover does love his 
master," and he patted the dog's head as it looked up trust- 
fully in his face. "Would you be grieved if he followed a 
stranger?" "Yes," he replied, rather impatient at so many 
questions. "Ah ! " said she, in a sad, tender, reproachful tone, 
"you ungrateful sinner, what a lesson does that dog teach 
you ! God has fed you, housed you, cared for you, loved you, 
these many years — but you do not love or obey Him — you do 
not follow Him ! He so loved you, that He gave His only 
begotten Son to die on the cross for your sins, and yet you 
never have loved Him in return ! You follow a stranger. Satan 
is your chosen master. The dog knows its owner — you know 
not yours ! Truly it may be said of you, ' The ox knoweth its 
owner, and the ass its master's crib ; but Israel doth not know, 
my people doth not consider ! ' " She looked sadly, yet kindly, 
at him as she earnestly uttered these words. His eyes filled 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 75 

with tears, he fixed them on his dog, and in a choking voice 
said, "Ah ! Rover, Rover ! thee has taught thy master a lesson 
this day! I have been an ungrateful sinner, but by God's 
help I'll be so no longer." 



CONVERSION AT SEA. 



SOMETIME about the year 1840, a young man named 
Cresson, left a comfortable home in Philadelphia for a 
career of adventure. His father, without whose knowl- 
edge or consent he had gone, followed him to New Bedford. 
Here he found him intent on going to sea. As he deemed it 
more wise to direct the future course of his son than peremp- 
torily to stop it, he obtained for him a situation on a whale ship, 
about starting for a cruise in the South Pacific. The captain, 
William P. Howland, was in connection with the Society of 
Friends, and on this account he felt better satisfied to entrust 
his son under his care. But, alas ! how little can profession 
do for us ! How little do the virtues of ancestry avail us ! 
The captain, notwithstanding his religious connection, was a 
profane and wicked man. The mates were in this respect, 
perhaps, his equals ; so that, in the enforcement of the discipline 
thought necessary on shipboard, the crew were subjected to 
much abuse. A large share of this abuse fell to the lot of 
Cresson. It had been in the indulgence of a proud, indomi- 
table spirit that he had absconded from his home ; and, with 
this spirit still rife in his bosom, he was required to submit to 
the subordination of sea-faring life. His superior mind and 
education made him a leader among the crew, and thus he 
became an object of jealousy to the officers of the ship. This 
spirit of mistrust was especially nursed by the captain, as 
upon him devolved the responsibility of preserving disci- 
pline. In the event of any misconduct, or assumed miscon- 
duct among the crew, the charge was likely to be made out 
against Cresson. 

On one occasion the captain had been arranging some timber 



y6 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

for the carpenter to work at and while so doing, missed the 
rule he had been using. A careful search failed to discover it. 
While thus baffled in his endeavors, he commenced question- 
ing Cresson about having hidden or stolen it. The questions 
soon grew into charges, and these became more and more 
pointed and furious, until he even threatened that the victim 
of his suspicion should be "skinned alive" if the rule was not 
at once produced. But he was restrained from further violence. 
The conscious innocence of Cresson rose superior to his 
unfounded malice. The rule was afterward found behind a 
sliding panel of the cabin, where it had dropped from the 
position in which the captain had laid it. 

In another instance, when Cresson was at the helm, the 
captain was on the lookout for whales. Wishing to change 
the course of the ship, he called out, "Keep her close to." 
Although his order was obeyed, it was repeated, and again 
repeated, until the helmsman was induced, in his efforts at 
strict obedience, to turn so much as to "bring down the sails." 
This brought upon him the enraged captain in a storm of 
profane words and physical violence, so that his still unsubdued 
spirit was roused to resistance. For this offense, thus brought 
on, he was tied to the mast and lashed, and his bleeding stripes 
washed with brine. 

As this continuous cruelty seemed unendurable, the crew 
concluded to petition the consul at one of the South American 
ports for a redress of grievances. Accordingly, a paper drawn 
up on their behalf by Cresson, was sent to that officer on 
arriving at the place. He responded by calling on the captain 
with the document in his hand. The latter called the crew 
before him and demanded the author of the offensive paper. 
Cresson acknowledged having written it, but stated that it was 
the united act of the crew. This measure v/as so far from 
affording the desired redress, that it but added to the fury and 
abuse of the captain. The spirit of Cresson was now broken. 
Henceforth his conduct was that of abject submission. He 
hated the officers, but dared not on any occasion act so as to 
incur their resentment. 






SKETCHES AXD AXECDOTES. 



// 



These incidents have been narrated that we may in some 
measure comprehend the depth of that Divine Love that 
yearns for the salvation of all, and the power of that Grace by 
which man may be rescued from a "pit so horrible." 

Sometime after this, Cresson was one day again at the helm, 
the captain standing out on the davits, and the rest of the 
ship's company below or out of sight. At a sudden lurch of 
the ship, the captain lost his hold. No one but Cresson saw 
him fall into the sea, and whatever were his latent feelings of 
resentment, he obeyed the better impulses of his nature. He 
called out "Man overboard!" and soon as possible "brought 
the ship to." The captain was again taken on board. It might 
be supposed that on being thus rescued from' a watery grave, 
he would at least have expressed thanks to the men concerned 
in his escape. But no ; so far was he debased below the com- 
mon courtesies of humanity, that he paced the deck in wrath, 
vainly assuming that the crew or some of them were charge- 
able with an attempt to "get rid of him." 

The vessel had now rounded Cape Horn on the homeward 
voyage. The captain, released from the excitement of the 
whaling ground had an opportunity for reflection. Just what 
those reflections were, we know not. He is no longer in this 
state of existence to tell us. But within a few weeks from the 
time of his being thrown overboard, the crew noticed a change 
in his demeanor. Nothing like a profane oath was any longer 
heard from his lips. No act of violence was committed by 
his hand. That voice, once dreaded for its sternness, was 
now mellowed by a different spirit. The change of character 
appeared complete. The kindness breathed by his words and 
actions astonished a crew, to whom this conduct was a strange 
exhibition. He became the object of their frequent remarks, 
but it does not appear that any one spoke or thought lightly 
of his motives or procedure. They no longer dreaded him. 
The more they contemplated the changed captain, the more 
they respected — the more they loved him. 

In the development of his altered behavior, he one day had 
the crew together and said to them, " Men, I do not wish you, 



yS SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

hereafter, on meeting me to take off your hats ; and, in address- 
ing me, you need not say, ' Sir,' but simply call me ' Captain 
Howland.'" 

The idea, however, was started among the men that if 
the captain was sincere, he must make an acknowledgment 
to Cresson, toward whom his conduct had been especially 
unjust and cruel. The convictions of Divine Grace, the faithful 
monitor in the heart, did not long permit the captain to neglect 
the discharge of this humiliating duty. He one day sent for 
Cresson to come to the cabin. There, with no one else present, 
and with the open Bible before him, he confessed the injustice 
of his treatment, and asked his forgiveness. 

During the rest of the voyage, he not only maintained a 
tone of uniform kindness toward the crew, but also endeavored 
to restrain the violence of the mates. 

Cresson's feelings toward the captain had been wrought to 
such a pitch of resentment, that he promised himself, that as 
soon as released from the discipline of the ship, he would 
retaliate with personal violence. Even when the captain had 
with such feeling asked his forgiveness, he felt no disposition 
to grant it. As had been the case with the captain, he, too, for 
a time, held out against conviction. The hard heart of unre- 
generate man is not commonly changed in a moment. But, 
before they landed, the same convicting influence that had 
overcome the heart of the stern master of the ship, wrought a 
happy change in his own feelings. He then could forgive. He 
could respect and love the man who had so deeply wronged 
him. 

William P. Howland, after his return, lived in New Bedford, 
and carried out the principles he had espoused at sea. He 
thus proved that it was no vagary of the imagination, that had 
led him to forsake the ways of evil, but the living, eternal 
Truth of God. 

May the circumstances here narrated encourage others to 
close in with convictions for sin whenever met with. The 
Grace of God, which bringeth salvation, still appears unto all 
men. Its visitations are meted out in Infinite Wisdom, as best 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 79 

adapted to our necessities. The call to repentance and amend- 
ment of life, may come at the third, the sixth, the ninth, or the 
eleventh hour. It may speak to us in thunder tones, amid the 
perils of the ocean, or in the gentle whispers of conscience 
when no danger is near. But in all cases it is the same Spirit 
of our compassionate Redeemer, and whoever will submit, 
shall make his peace with God, and experience the record of 
his sins to be blotted out. 



THE PREACHING OF GEORGE FOX. 



NOT only was he frequently engaged in opening the 
doctrines of the Christian faith, in a clear and con- 
vincing manner, but having a sense of discernment 
given him of God, respecting the state of his auditory, he 
spake unto them under the leading of the Holy Spirit, very 
pertinently, to their admiration and convincement, an instance 
of which was related by an ancient woman Friend, as follows, 
viz : ''And now, friends, I will tell you how I was first 
convinced. I was a young lass at that time, and lived in 
Dorsetshire, when George Fox came to that county; and he 
having appointed a meeting, to which people generally flocked, 
I went among the rest; and, in my going along the road, this 
query arose in my mind: 'What is it that I feel which con- 
demneth me when I do evil, and justifieth me when I do well? 
What is it ? ' In this state I went to the meeting. It was a 
large gathering, and George Fox rose up with these words: 
'Who art thou that queriest in thy mind, what is it which I 
feel, which condemneth me when I do evil, and justifieth me 
when I do well ? I will tell thee what it is. Lo ! He that 
formeth the mountains and createth the wind, and declareth 
unto man what are his thoughts; that maketh the morning 
darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth ; the 
Lord, the God of Hosts is his name. It is He, by his Spirit, 
that condemneth thee for evil, and justifieth thee when thou 
dost well. Keep under its dictates, and it will be thy preserver 



80 SKE TCHES A ND ANECDOTES. 

to the end.'" To this narrative, the ancient Friend added, 
" It was the truth, the very truth, and I have never departed 
from it." 



A RAILWAY INCIDENT. 



k 



CORRESPONDENT in Iowa sends us the following 
touching incident, written by J. M. Dosh, a member of 
the United Brethren Society, with whom he was per- 
sonally acquainted, and whom he represents as a man whose 
statements may be relied upon as correct. 

In traveling, we often meet with persons of different nation- 
alities and languages. We also meet with incidents of various 
characters, some sorrowful, and others joyful and instructive. 
One of the latter character I witnessed recently, while traveling 
upon the cars. The train was going west, and the time was 
evening. At a station a little girl about eight years old came 
aboard, carrying a little budget under her arm. She came into 
the car and deliberately took a seat. She then commenced 
an eager scrutiny of faces, but all were strange to her. She 
appeared weary, and placing the budget for a pillow, she 
prepared to try to secure a little sleep. Soon the conductor 
came along, collecting tickets and fare. Observing him, she 
asked if she might lie there. The gentlemanly conductor 
replied that she might, and then kindly asked her for her ticket. 
She informed him that she had none, when the following con- 
versation ensued. Said the conductor: 

" Where are you going ? " 

She answered, " I am going to heaven." 

He asked again, "Who pays your fare ?" 

She then said, "Mister, does this railroad lead to heaven, 
and does Jesus travel on it?" 

He answered, " I think not. Why did you think so ? " 

"Why, sir, before my ma died, she used to sing to me of a 
heavenly railroad, and you looked so nice and kind I thought 
this was the road. My ma used to sing of Jesus on the 
heavenly railroad, and that He paid the fare for everybody, and 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. Si 

that the train stopped at every station to take people on board, 
but my ma don't sing to me any more. Nobody sings to me 
now, and I thought I'd take the cars and go to ma. Mister, 
do you sing to your little girl about the railroad that goes to 
heaven ? You have a little girl, haven't you ?" 

He replied, weeping, "No, my little dear, I have no little 
girl now. I had one once, but she died some time ago, and 
went to heaven." 

Again she asked, " Did she go over this railroad ; and are 
you going to see her now?" 

By this time all persons in the coach were upon their feet, 
and most of them were weeping. An attempt to describe 
what I witnessed is almost futile. Some said, " God bless the 
little girl ! " Hearing some person say that she was an angel, 
the little girl earnestly replied, "Yes, my ma used to say I 
would be an angel some time." 

Addressing herself once more to the conductor, she asked 
him, " Do you love Jesus ? I do, and if you love Him, He 
will let you ride to heaven on His railroad. I am going 
there, and I wish you would go with me. I know Jesus 
will let me in when I get there, and He will let you in, too, 
and everybody that will ride on His railroad — yes, all these 
people. Wouldn't you like to see heaven, and Jesus, and your 
little girl?" 

These words, so innocently and pathetically uttered, brought 
a gush of tears from all eyes, but most profusely from the eyes 
of the conductor. Some who were traveling on the heavenly 
railroad shouted aloud for joy. 

She now asked the conductor, " Mister, may I lie here until 
we get to heaven ?" 

He answered, "Yes, dear, yes." 

She then asked, "Will you wake me up then, so that I may 
see my dear ma, your little girl, and Jesus ? " for I do want so 
much to see them all." 

The answer came in broken accents, but in words very 
tenderly spoken, "Yes, dear angel, yes. God bless you!" 
"Amen ! " was sobbed by more than a score of voices. 



82 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

Turning her eyes again upon the conductor, she interrogated 
him, "What shall I tell your little girl whenT see her? Shall 
I say I saw her pa on Jesus' railroad — shall I ? " 

This brought a fresh flood of tears from all present : and the 
conductor kneeled by her side, and, embracing her, wept the 
reply he could not utter. At this juncture the brakesman 

called out, " H s." The conductor arose and requested him 

to attend to his (the conductor's) duty at the station, for he 
was engaged. That was a precious place. I thank God that 
I was a witness to this scene, but I was sorry that at this point 
I was obliged to leave the train. 

A few months after the above occurrence, the w T riter of this 
narrative received a letter from the conductor, acknowledging 
that the circumstance had been a blessing to him spiritually, 
and giving some additional information respecting the little 
girl. The letter says: 

"I had proposed adopting her in the place of my little 
daughter, who is now in heaven, With this intention I took 

her to C B , and on my return trip I took her back to 

S -n, where she left the cars. In consultation with my 

wife in regard to adopting her, she replied, ' Yes, certainly, and 
immediately, too, for there is a Divine Providence in this. 
Oh,' said she, ' I never could refuse to take under my charge, 
the instrument of my husband's salvation.' I made inquiry 

for the child at S n, and learned that in three days after her 

return she died suddenly, without any apparent disease, and 
her happy soul had gone to dwell with her ma, my little girl, 
and the angels in heaven." 



WHAT ONE SIN WILL DO. 



THERE was but one crack in the lantern, and the wind 
found it out, and blew out the candle. How great a 
mischief one unguarded point of character may cause 
us ! One spark blew up the magazine, and shook the whole 
country for miles around. 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 83 

One leak sank the vessel, and drowned all on board. One 
wound may kill the body, one sin destroy the soul. It little 
matters how carefully the rest of the lantern is protected, the 
one point which is damaged is quite sufficient to admit the 
wind; and so it little matters how zealous a man may be in a 
thousand things, if he tolerates one darling sin, Satan will find 
out the flaw and destroy all his hopes. 

The strength of a chain is to be measured, not by its strong- 
est, but its weakest link; for if the weakest snaps, what is the 
use of the rest ? 

Satan is a very close observer, and knows exactly where our 
weak points are. We have need of very much watchfulness, 
and we have great cause to bless our merciful Lord, who 
prayed for us that our faith fail not. Either our pride, our 
sloth, our ignorance, our anger, or our lust, would prove our 
ruin unless Grace interposed. Any one of our senses or facul- 
ties might admit the foe; yea, our very virtues and graces 
might be the gates of entrance to our enemies. O, Jesus, if 
Thou hast indeed bought me with Thy blood, be pleased to 
keep me by Thy power even unto the end. 



REMARKABLE CONDUCT OF A LITTLE GIRL. 



THE following extraordinary act was performed by a 
child in Lyons, not long ago, according to a continen- 
tal paper. 
An unfortunate artisan, the father of a family, was deprived 
of work by the depressed state of his trade during the whole 
winter. It was with great difficulty he could get a morsel 
of food now and then for his famished wife and children. 
Things grew worse and worse with him, and, at length, on 
attempting to rise one morning, for the purpose of going out 
as usual, in quest of employment, he fell back in a fainting 
condition beside his wife, who had already been confined to 
her bed by illness for two months. The poor man felt himself 
ill, and his strength entirely gone. He had two boys yet in 



84 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

mere childhood, and one girl about twelve or thirteen years 
old. For a long time the charge of the household had fallen 
on this girl. She had attended the sick-bed of her mother, 
and had watched over her little brothers with more than paren- 
tal care. Now, when the father too was taken ill, there seemed 
to be not a vestige of hope for the family, excepting in the 
exertion that might be made by her, young as she was. 

The first thought of the poor girl was to seek for employ- 
ment proportioned to her strength. But, that the family might 
not starve in the mean time, she resolved to go to one of the 
houses of charity where food was given out, as she had heard, 
to the poor and needy. The person, to whom she addressed 
herself, accordingly inscribed her name in a list of applicants, 
and told her to come back again in a day or two, when the 
case would have been deliberated upon. Alas ! during the 
deliberation, her parents and brothers would starve. The girl 

stated this, but was informed that the formalities mentioned 

i 

were indispensable. She came again to the street, and, almost 
agonized by the knowledge of how anxiously she was expected 
with bread at home, she resolved to ask charity from the 
passengers in the public ways. 

No one heeded the modest, unobtrusive appeal of her out- 
stretched hand. Her heart was too full to permit her to speak. 
Could any one have seen the torturing anxiety that filled her 
breast, she must have been pitied and relieved. As the case 
stood, it is not perhaps surprising that some rude being menaced 
her with the police. She was frightened. Shivering with cold 
and crying bitterly, she fled homewards. When she mounted 
the stairs and opened the door, the first words that she heard 
were the cries of her brothers for something to eat — " bread ! 
bread ! bread ! " She saw her father soothing and supporting 
her fainting mother, and heard him say, " Bread ! she dies for 
want of food ! " 

" I have no bread ! " cried the poor girl, with anguish in her 
tones. 

The cries of disappointment and despair which came at these 
words from her father and brothers, caused her to recall what 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 85 

she had said and conceal the truth. " I have not got it yet," 
she exclaimed, "but I will have it immediately. I have given 
the baker the money; he was serving some rich people, and he 
told me to wait or come back. I came to tell you that it would 
soon be here." 

After these words, without waiting for a reply, she left the 
house again. A thought had entered her head, and, maddened 
by the distresses of those she loved so dearly, she had instan- 
taneously resolved to put it into execution. She ran from one 
street to another, until she saw a baker's shop in which there 
appeared to be no person, and then, summoning all her deter- 
mination, she entered, lifted a loaf, and fled ! The shopkeeper 
saw her from behind. He cried loudly, ran out after her, and 
pointed her out to the people passing by. The girl ran on. 
She was pursued, and finally a man seized the loaf which she 
carried. The object of her desire having been taken away, 
she had no motive to proceed, and was seized at once. They 
conveyed her toward the office of the police; a crowd, as 
usual, having gathered in attendance. The poor girl cast around 
her despairing glances, which seemed to seek some favorable 
object from whom to ask mercy. At last, when she had been 
brought to the court of the police office, and was in waiting 
for the order to enter, she saw before her a little girl of her 
own age, who appeared to look upon her with a glance full of 
kindness and compassion. Under the impulse of the moment, 
still thinking of the condition of her family, she whispered to 
the stranger the cause of her theft 

" ' Father and mother, and my two brothers, are dying for 
want of bread ! " said she. 

"Where?" asked the strange girl, anxiously. 

"Rue , No. 10 ." She had only time to add the 

name of her parents to this communication, when she was 
carried before the commissary of the police. 

Meanwhile the poor family at home suffered all the miseries 
of suspense. Fears for their child's safety were added to the 
other afflictions of the parents. At length they heard footsteps 
ascending the stairs. An eager cry of hope was uttered by all 



86 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

the poor unfortunates ; but, alas ! a stranger appeared, in place 
of their own little one. Yet the stranger seemed to them like 
an angel. Her cheeks had a beautiful bloom, and her long 
flaxen hair fell in curls upon her shoulders. She brought to 
them bread, and a small basket of other provisions. "Your 
girl," said she, "will not come back, perhaps, to-day; but keep 
up your spirits! See what she has sent you!" -After these 
encouraging words, the young messenger of good put into the 
hand of the father five francs, and then turning around to cast 
a look of pity and satisfaction on the poor family, who were 
dumb with emotion, she disappeared. 

The history of these five francs is the most remarkable part 
of the affair. This little benevolent fairy was, it is almost 
unnecessary to say, the same pitying spectator, who had been 
addressed by the abstractor of the loaf at the police office. 
As soon as she heard what was said there, she had gone away, 
resolved to take some meat to the poor family. But she 
remembered that her mamma was from home that day, and 
was at a loss how to procure money or food, until she 
bethought herself of a resource of a strange kind. She recol- 
lected that a hair-dresser, who lived near her mother's house, 
and who knew her family, had often commended her beautiful 
hair, and told her to come to him whenever she wished to have 
it cut, and he would give her a louis for it. This used to make 
her proud and pleased, but she now thought of it in a different 
way. In order to procure money for the assistance of the 
starving family, she went to the hair-dresser, put him in mind 
of his promise, and offered to let him cut off all her pretty 
locks for what he thought them worth. 

Naturally surprised at such an application, the hair-dresser, 
who was a kind and intelligent man, made inquiry into the 
cause of his young friend's visit. Her secret was easily drawn 
from her, and it caused the hair-dresser to almost shed tears of 
pleasure. He feigned to comply with the conditions proposed, 
and gave the bargainer fifteen francs, promising to come and 
claim his purchase at some future period. The little girl got a 
basket, bought provisions, and set out on her errand of mercy. 



SKE TCHES A XD A XE CDOTES. 87 

Before she returned, the hair-dresser had gone to her mother's, 
found that lady at home, and related to her the whole circum- 
stance; so that, when the possessor of the golden tresses came 
back, she was gratified by being received into the open arms 
of her pleased and praising parent. 

When the story was told at the police office by the hair- 
dresser, the abstractor of the loaf was visited with no severe 
punishment. The singular circumstances connected with the 
case raised many friends to the artisan and his family, and he 
was soon restored to health and comfort. 



LETTER FROM A MOTHER TO HER SON, UPON THE COM- 
PLETION OF HER NINETIETH YEAR. 



Y very Dear and only Sox: — I sit down to address to 
you probably the last letter you will have from me. 
I have suffered much on account of your and your 
ever-beloved wife's heavy trials; but my faith is immovable in 
all these things working out for you both, and for myself, "A 
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,' I am now 
nearly ninety years old; but I consider myself one of the 
happiest beings in existence, for the most of my trials are gone 
through; and, under the apprehension of those to come, I am 
happy to tell you that my feet are on the Rock. I have a 
husband, three children, and two grandchildren, beyond the 
boundary line of sin and sorrow. God was manifestly glorified 
in the deaths of those who came to maturity, and the rest are 
quite as safe. My health is just as good as ever it was, except- 
ing the infirmities incident to old age, and I have fewer of 
these perhaps than any other of my age. My memory is 
good; I seldom forget anything I hear; I can read a little, and 
hear tolerably well; I have food to eat, and raiment to put on, 
and, when sick, tender hands to aid my infirmities. I feel as 
if a volume would not be too much for me to fill, if I told you 
all I think of you both, and the dear children; and, when 
over-whelmed with the thought of you all, I can only ease my 



88 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

full heart by crying to heaven, in the language of the apostle, 
"That the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ would 
bless you all with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in 
Christ Jesus." I know, and often say that our prayers are 
reciprocal, for I feel assured you are asking for me, and the 
blessed access I feel tells me that I am heard for you. 

But one thing, above all things, I would have you enforce — 
the necessity of teaching the dear children, that the religion I 
am recommending is a thing not merely to be found in books, 
sermons, or knowledge, but at the throne of Grace. It is a 
" casting off the works of darkness, and putting on the armor 
of light;" it is "putting off the old man, and putting on the 
new;" a "crucifying the flesh, with its affections and lusts;" 
it is set about by a knowledge of themselves; a repentance 
toward God; a faith in Christ; a passing through the straight 
gate; a new birth; Christ formed and brought forth in the 
soul, enabling the new creature to walk in Christ, with a 
knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins; a self-denying 
life. I tell my dear grandchildren these are my views of relig- 
ion, after sixty-four years of experience — for so long has my 
Saviour kept me; and now I know that neither life nor death 
(nor any of the dangers in the catalogue) shall be able to 
separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my 
Lord. I shall ever, while life remains, remember you in all 
my prayers, night and day, and I trust you will do the same 
for me, for I am still in the field, and the wolf of the evening 
is still going about. But, after sixty-four years of conflict, the 
sword of the Spirit is still bright; and, oh, to have the promised 
land in view! This is what Bunyan calls the land of Beulah; 
or the prophet Isaiah, "The land that is afar off, where the 
King is seen in His beauty." I was reading of this to-day— 
the first of the year — and I trust, ere another year rolls around, 
that faith will be lost in sight But, before I let the pen be 
dropped, again I would say, tell the dear children that, in 
searching for religion, Jacob "wrestled," David "wept and 
watered his couch with tears," Paul prayed, the Publican "smote 
upon his breast," the jailor asked, "What shall I do?" and, 



SKETCHES A ND A NE CD TES. 89 

above all, Jesus, when asking for us, rose a great while before 
day, and went into a solitary place, and there prayed. Every- 
thing for life or death is to be got at the throne of Grace, but 
the soul must be on the stretch for all we want And now, 
my dear children, I have told you what I have to say before I 
leave this vale of tears. Meet me above, that I may say, 
" Here am I, and the children Thou hast given me." 

May the good Lord keep you all in "a house not made 
with hands," is the prayer of, my dear son, 

Your affectionate 

Mother. 

PACIFIC POLICY OF WILLIAM PENN. 



THE case of William Penn is perhaps the fullest and fairest 
illustration of pacific principles, in their bearing on the 
intercourse of nations. His colony, though an append- 
age to England, was to the Indians an independent State. 
They knew no power above or beyond Penn himself; and they 
treated his colony as another tribe or nation. The king had 
himself expressly abandoned these Quakers entirely to their 
own resources. 

" What ! " said Charles II. to Penn, on the eve of his depart- 
ure, "venture yourself among the savages of North America! 
Why, man, what security have you that you will not be in 
their war-kettle within two hours after setting your foot on 
their shores?" 

"The best security in the world," said the man of peace. 

"I doubt that, friend William; I have no idea of security 
against those cannibals, but a regiment of good soldiers with 
their muskets and bayonets; and I will tell you beforehand, 
that with all my good will to you and your family, to whom 
I am under obligations, I will not send a single soldier with 
you." 

"I want none of thy soldiers; I depend on something 
better." 

"Better! on what?" 



90 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

" On the Indians themselves ; on their moral sense and the 
promised protection of God." 

Such was the course of William Penn, and what was the 
result ? In the midst of the most warlike tribes on this conti- 
nent, the Quakers lived in safety, while all the other colonies, 
acting on the war policy of armed defense, were involved 
almost incessantly in bloody conflicts with the Indians. Penn 
was an embodiment of his principles, and the efficacy of these 
is strikingly exhibited in the fact that Pennsylvania, during all 
the seventy years of her peace policy, remained without harm 
from the Indians, but as soon as she changed the policy, she 
suffered the same calamities as the other colonies. 

It has been said that William Penn's treaty with the Indians, 
"was the only one made without an oath, and which was never 
broken." 



A BIBLE IN A HOTEL. 



A SMALL party of friends, gathered about a cozy tea- 
table, were discussing the propriety of the Bible Society 
placing copies of the Holy Scriptures in railroad cars, 
steamers, hotels, and other places of public resort. One or 
two of this party raised the objection to the practice, that in 
such public places the Bible often received rude and careless 
treatment at the hands of irreverent and irreligious persons. 
After all the rest had expressed an opinion, a woman, the sweet 
graces of whose Christian character gave her a wide-reaching 
influence in the village, related this touching incident of per- 
sonal experience: 

It seems that two or three years after her conversion and 
union with the church, troubles came upon her and her family. 
Instead of bearing her troubles with patience and submission, 
she lost faith in the goodness of God, in His ever-watchful 
care, doubted the genuineness of her conversion, ceased to 
pray, read her Bible, or even to think of seeking divine 
guidance. While in this pitiable state, circumstances made it 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 91 

imperative for her to visit the city of New York, on a very 
painful matter of business. She was of a retiring disposition, 
unused to traveling, and had never been in a large city. While 
on her journey, in the cars, a slight act of courtesy led her to 
make the acquaintance of a gentleman and his wife, who took 
her under their protection, and, after their arrival in the city, 
went out of their way to leave her at the entrance of a respect- 
able hotel. 

She ascended the stairs oppressed with an almost over- 
whelming sense of loneliness, mingled with the consciousness 
of an utter inability to perform the unpleasant errand she had 
in hand. On being ushered into the capacious and elegantly- 
furnished parlors, she walked mechanically to a centre-table, 
and opening the single book which lay on the marble top, her 
eye fell upon these words, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake 
thee." An emotion of tenderness suddenly stole into her 
heart. Still bending over the precious book, the gathering 
tears beginning to dim her eyes, she read further on — "Jesus 
Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." The comfort 
which these passages of Scripture brought to her it was impos- 
sible to describe. The black clouds of unbelief and doubt 
rolled away; the glorious sunlight of divine love and protection 
shone in upon her soul; she was no longer alone ; and this 
assurance came to her heart like a balm and a blessing. Her 
perturbed and distracted mind was at rest now; the by-gone 
joy, peace and trust sat again upon the throne of her heart, 
and held more potent, loving sway than ever. "Jesus CJirist, 
the same yesterday, to-day, and forever /" she kept saying to 
herself, over and over again. 

Quieted and perfectly self-poised now, she gave her orders 
with the assurance of an experienced traveler. She ate a 
hearty supper, went to her room, and in time to her bed, with 
as great a sense of security as if she had been in her own 
house. She slept peacefully, and awoke at her usual time in 
the morning, thoroughly refreshed. Unexpected facilities for 
transacting her trying business opened up on all sides. She was 
uniformly treated with respect; her questions were promptly 



92 SKE TCHES AND AN EC DO TES. 

answered; she was marvelously aided in her quest, and her 
mission proved successful. 

Had it not been for that copy of the Bible, found so oppor- 
tunely in her pathway, she was sure she would have taken the 
next return train to her distant home, without making an effort 
even toward the accomplishment of her mission. The Bible 
in the hotel was in the right place. 



THE YOUNG PRODIGAL: OR ''THAT'S THEE, JIM. 



SOME years ago, says the author of the following true and 
touching story, I was staying at a very beautiful and 
much frequented watering-place in England, where I met 
with an earnest Christian tradesman of the town, named Carr, 
who was ever watchful for an opportunity of doing good. 
Though not a bookseller, yet he always had in a prominent 
place, in his shop window, an assortment of Bibles, with a card 
in large letters, saying, "Luther's swords sold here" 

One day a band or " troupe" of young men who were giving 
entertainments in the place, their hands and faces blackened, 
and dressed in very grotesque costumes, arranged themselves 
before this gentleman's door, one day, for an exhibition of their 
peculiar "performances." These people used to be called the 
"Ethiopian Serenaders." After they had sung some comic 
and some plaintive melodies, with their own peculiar accompa- 
niments of gestures and grimaces, one of the party, a tall and 
interesting young man, who had the look of one who was 
beneath his proper station, stepped up to the door, tambourine 
in hand, to ask for a few "dropping pennies" of the people. 
Carr, taking one of the Bibles out of his window, addressed 
the youth : 

"See here, young man," he said, "I will give you a shilling 
and this book besides, if you will read a portion of it among 
your comrades there, and in the hearing of the bystanders." 

"Here's a shilling for an easy job !" he chuckled out to his 
mates; "I'm going to give you a public reading!" 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 93 

Carr opened at the 15th chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, and 
pointing to the nth verse, requested the young man to com- 
mence reading at that verse. 

"Now, Jim, speak up!" said one of the party, "and earn 
your shilling like a man ! " 

And Jim took the book and read, "And he said, A certain 
man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, 
Father give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And 
he divided unto them his living." 

There was something in the voice of the reader, as well as 
in the strangeness of the circumstances, that lulled all to 
silence; while an air of seriousness took possession of the 
youth, and still further commanded the rapt attention of the 
crowd. 

He read on: "And not many days after, the younger son 
gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country 
and there wasted his substance with riotous living." 

"That's thee, Jim!" ejaculated one of his comrades; "it's 
just like what you told me of yourself and your father!" 

The reader continued: "And when he had spent all, there 
arose a mighty famine in that land, and he began to be in 
want." 

"Why, that's thee again, Jim !" said the voice. "Go on !" 

"And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that coun- 
try; and he sent him into the fields to feed swine. And he 
would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine 
did eat: and no man gave unto him." 

"That's like us all!" said the voice once more, interrupting; 
" we're all beggars and might be better than we are ! Go on ; 
let's hear what came of it." 

And the young man read on, and as he read his voice trem- 
bled: "And when he came to himself, he said, How many 
hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, 
and I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father." 

At this point he fairly broke down, and could read no more. 
All were impressed and moved. The whole reality of the past 
rose up to view, and, in the clear story of the Gospel, a ray of 



94 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

hope dawned upon him for the future. His father — his father's 
house — and his mother's too; and the plenty and love ever 
bestowed upon him there; and the hired servants, all having 
enough; and then himself his father's son, and his present 
state, his companionships, his habits, his sins, his poverty, his 
outcast condition, his absurdly questionable mode of living — 
all these came climbing like an invading force of thoughts and 
reflections into the citadel of his mind, and fairly overcame him. 
That day — that scene — proved the turning point of that 
young prodigal's life. He sought the advice of the Christian 
friend, who had thus providentially interposed for his deliv- 
erance. Communications were made to his parents, which 
resulted in a long lost and dearly loved child returning to the 
familiar earthly home; and, still better, m his return to his 
Heavenly Father ! He found, as I trust my readers will, how 
true are the promises of the parable of the "Prodigal Son," 
both for time and for eternity. 



QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT/' 



THE AWFUL CONSEQUENCES OF DELAY, RELATED IN THE CONFES- 
SION OF AN AGED MAN. 

AMONG the thousands and tens of thousands of mankind, 
who are living according to the course of this vain and 
wicked world, few are found who are resolved to die as 
they live. Convictions at times arise in their hearts, which 
clearly manifest their entire unfitness to appear before the 
judgment seat of the Saviour, whom they are now so awfully 
slighting. Were the inquiry addressed to them — " Is it your 
intention to go into eternity in the same careless, and even 
sinful state, in which you are now living?" would not most of 
them be shocked at the question ? They would, perhaps, 
reply: "Do you think we care so little for our immortal souls? 
Although we are, we confess, neglecting them too much, we 
mean to think more seriously before we die." Awful delusion ! 
evidently the crafty snare of the enemy, for how few have been 



SKETCHES A ND A NE CDOTES. 95 

known to comply with this intention ! Most of these loiterers 
find, if there are any reasons to induce them to be guilty of 
this culpable neglect now, reasons of the same deceptive char- 
acter are not wanting in the future period of their lives. The 
following circumstance is calculated to rouse the most careless. 
May it prove a warning to those into whose hands this tract 
may fall. 

"My. children," said an old man, "the words of your dying 
father will be few ; I wish them to sink deep into your hearts." 
Then raising himself a little in his bed, with a degree of 
strength which he had not been able to command for several 
of the last weeks of his sickness, he proceeded: "When young, 
I enjoyed religious privileges, and was the subject of occasional 
serious reflections. When just entering on my sixteenth year, 
these impressions were made on my mind with unusual force. 
I seemed at times to hear a voice saying to me, ' Seek an inter- 
est in the Saviour.' I was unhappy, my former amusements 
lost their relish. Still I was not willing to relinquish them, 
and obey the voice that was calling me to this duty, and in 
which obedience, alas ! I do now feel would have been my 
greatest happiness. One day, after much reflection, I deliber- 
ately vowed that after the season of youthful amusement lost 
its relish, I would give myself up to religious pursuits. My 
anxiety for my soul's welfare immediately left me, I returned to 
my foolish amusements, and the subject was soon forgotten. 
When I had attained the age of twenty-five, the monitory 
voice returned; it reminded me of my neglected vow, and 
again pressed upon me the importance of eternal things. 
Though I had not thought of my promise for years, yet 
I acknowledged its obligations, but an immediate fulfilment 
seemed more impracticable than it did nine years before. I 
vowed with increasing solemnity, that when the cares of # a 
rising family should subside, I would certainly attend to the 
concerns of my soul. 

"Again I applied myself to worldly avocations, and soon 
buried all thoughts of the admonition I had received. At fifty, 
when you, my children, were diminishing instead of increasing 



9 6 SKE TCHES A ND A NE CD TES. 

my cares, this heavenly monitor returned. ' Fulfil thy promise, 
seek reconciliation with God, through a crucified Redeemer,' 
was continually pressing on my mind. 

" I knew that I had promised to attend to the all-important 
concerns of my soul, but I was dissatisfied that its fulfilment 
should be claimed so soon, and yet, I regretted that I had not 
attended to the subject before, when I could have done it, I 
thought, with less difficulty; but such were the extent and 
pressure of my business, that to do it then seemed impossible. 
I became very unhappy, and, after again deliberating, I sought 
relief to my troubled feelings, by again solemnly renewing my 
promise to God. I said, 'When the pressure of my business 
is passed, I will devote my attention to a preparation for 
eternity.' 

" No sooner had I fixed my mind on this course, than my 
anxiety again disappeared — the strivings of the Spirit ceased 
in my bosom, and ceased forever ! 

"When sickness warned me of approaching death, I sought 
to fix my mind on this subject, but in vain. There was a 
gloom and terror drawn around religion, at which my soul 
shuddered. I felt, alas ! that I was forsaken of God, but it did 
not move my sad heart. I had no love to God, no repentance 
for sin, nor wish to forsake it. I felt nothing but the sullen 
gloom of despair. I knew I was in the hands of a justly 
offended God, from whom I expected no mercy, and could ask 
none. With these feelings, I am now about to enter an eternal 
world. To you, my children, I can only say, profit by my 
example — ' Quench not the Spirit,' — seek reconciliation with 
God now, if you would avoid a miserable eternity — put not off 
the concerns of your souls till " 

The sentence died on his lips ; his strength, which had been 
summoned to make this last effort, suddenly failed; he fell back 
upon his bed, and, with a heart-piercing groan, the immortal 
spirit took its flight from that body, which it had inhabited 
nearly four-score years, to receive according to that it hath 
done. This little narrative was related to the writer by the 
grandson of the old man, who had stood by his dying bed. 






SKE TCHES A XD A NE CD TES. 97 

This grandson afterward became a minister of the Gospel, and 
dated his first permanent convictions of sin and eternal ruin, 
from that awful scene. The descendants of the old man were 
numerous, many of whom became pious; several were awak- 
ened by his dying charge. 



THE FORAGING PARTY. 



SOON after the surrender of Copenhagen to the English, in 
the year 1807, detachments of soldiers were for a time 
stationed in the surrounding villages. It happened one 
day that three soldiers belonging to a Highland regiment were 
sent to forage among the neighboring farm houses. They 
went to several, but found them stripped and deserted. At 
length they came to a long garden or orchard, full of apple 
trees, bending under the weight of fruit. They entered by a 
gate, and followed a path which brought them to a neat farm 
house. Everything without bespoke quietness and security; 
but as they entered by the front door, the mistress of the 
house and her children ran screaming out by the back. The 
interior of the house presented an appearance of order and 
comfort, superior to what might be expected from people in 
that station, and the habits of the country. A watch hung by 
the side of the fire-place, and a neat book-case, well-filled, 
attracted the attention of the elder soldier. He took down a 
book : it was written in a language unknown to him, but the 
name of Jesus Christ was legible on every page. At this 
moment, the master of the house entered by the door through 
which his wife and children had just fled. 

One of the soldiers, by threatening signs, demanded provis- 
ions; the man stood firm and undaunted, but shook his head. 
The soldier who held the book approached him, and pointing 
to the name of Jesus Christ, laid his hand upon his heart and 
looked up to heaven. Instantly the farmer grasped his hand, 
shook it vehemently, and then ran out of the room. He soon 
returned with his wife and children, laden with milk, eggs, 

G 



9 8 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

bacon, etc., which were freely tendered; and when money was 
offered in return, it was at first refused; but, as two of the 
soldiers were pious men, they, much to the chagrin of their 
companion, insisted on paying for all they received. When 
taking leave, the pious soldiers intimated to the farmer that it 
would be well for him to secrete his watch; but, by the most 
significant signs, he gave them to understand that he feared no 
evil, for his trust was in God ; and that, though his neighbors 
on the right hand and on the left had fled from their habita- 
tions, and by foraging parties had lost what they could not 
remove, not a hair of his head had been injured, nor had he 
even lost an apple from his trees. 

" The angel of the Lord encampeth rouhd about them that 
fear Him, and delivereth them." 



EXERCISE OF FAITH. 



WILLIAM BRAY, better known in the neighborhood 
where he lived as Billy Bray, was a poor Cornish 
miner. For many years he had -'been a drunken, pro- 
fane, reckless man. Through the visitations of Divine Grace, 
to which he yielded, he was enabled to turn from his evil ways, 
and to experience a new birth unto righteousness. The won- 
derful change, wrought in his heart by the power of redeeming 
love, altered the whole course of his life. He could no longer 
serve sin, but now became a faithful servant to the best of 
masters, the Lord Jesus Christ. Though a poor man, daily 
laboring in one of the mines of Cornwall, England, he found 
time to labor in various ways for Him whom he now so greatly 
desired to serve. He was particularly active in building places 
of worship in his neighborhood, and having to depend upon 
receiving aid from others to enable him to accomplish his 
object, his faith was often pretty severely tested, yet he could 
trust in child-like simplicity upon the Lord, to make a way for 
and help him through every difficulty. He thus describes his 
labors in erecting a place of worship near where he lived : 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 99 

" In the neighborhood where I lived there were a great many 
dark-minded, wicked people, and chapels were few. The Lord 
put it into my mind to build a chapel. My mother had a small 
place; and by one of her little fields, there was a small piece 
of common. The Lord opened my mother's heart to give a 
spot, on that piece of common, to build on. When my mother 
gave me the ground, I began to work as the dear Lord told 
me, and to take away the hedge of my mother's field, and to 
dig out the foundation for a chapel, or a house to worship God 
in, which was to be called Bethel. 

"Many will have to bless God forever that Bethel chapel 
was built, for many are in heaven already that were born there. 
In that day there was but one little chapel in our neighbor- 
hood, at a place called Twelve-heads, which belonged to the 
Wesleyans. ' Our people had a little house to preach in, which 
would hold only twenty or thirty people. So we wanted a 
place to preach in, and the people a place to hear in. Paul 
had a thorn in the flesh, and so had I. For I had not only the 
wicked against me, but a little class, which was held in the 
house where we preached; most of them turned against me, 
and tried to set the preachers against me. But with all they 
could do, they could not hurt me, though they made me 
uneasy at times. I went to work and raised the stone, and got 
mortar, and set the masons to work. And the dear Lord 
helped me, for I was very poor, and had no money of my own. 
But the dear Lord raised me up friends, who sent me money 
to pay the masons. We got the chapel walls up; and timber 
for the roof, and then got it sawed and put up. But we had 
not timber enough for the roof by one principal, and I asked 
my Heavenly Father to send me some timber, or money to 
buy some. That morning there was a Wesleyan local preacher 
at home, praying; the Lord said to him while he was on his 
knees, ' Go down and give William Bray a pound note.' At 
that time there were no sovereigns; there were one pound 
notes, drawn on the banks. After he had taken his breakfast, 
he came down to me by the chapel, and said to me, ' What do 
you want a pound note for ? ' and I replied, ' To buy timber to 



: 



ioo SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

put a principal on that end of the chapel. He said he never 
felt such a thing in all his life, ' for while I was home praying, 
this morning, it was always coming in my mind to go down 
and give you a pound note, and here it is.' So I had the note, 
went to Truro, bought a principal, put it on the chapel, and 
there it is to this day. 

" When the timber was on the chapel, I went around and got 
two pounds toward covering the chapel. At that time we 
had young children, and the youngest of them was taken very 
ill. When my little maid was taken ill, Satan tempted me that 
it would take seven pounds to cover the chapel, and I had but 
two pounds; and our little one would diQ, and it would take 
one pound to bury her, and then I should have but one pound 
left. The devil tempted me very much on that point; for if I 
wanted it, I had a right to take it, for the dear Lord and ' me ' 
in this place kept but one purse ; * and I paid any money that 
I earned at mine to the chapel, when I wanted it. So I had 
but one to give my account to, and that was the dear Lord, 
the very best comrade that man can ever have. So the devil 
tempted me that the child would die. While I was thus sore 
tempted, it came into my mind that I should be paid for build- 
ing this chapel, and it was applied to me, ' Because thou hast 
built this chapel, I will save thy child's life.' And I said, 
' Where is this coming from ? ' And it was said to me, ' I am 
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; be nothing doubting, 
it is I, saith the Lord;' and I believed it, and it was so. When 
I went home I told my wife the child would not die, for the 
Lord had told me so. She replied, 'Don't say so; for all the 
neighbors say she will die, she is so very ill.' I then went to 
the mine to work ; when I came home the child was not any 
better, and had not eaten any meat. On that night the child 
was very ill, and got no better all the forenoon of the next 
day. She was very ill when I came home to dinner. That 
day I was afternoon 'core' at the mine. We knelt down to 

*This expression may be misunderstood without an explanation. He freely 
used his own money, when he had any, but what was given him for the Lord's 
cause was sacredly appropriated. 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 101 

pray; the child was lying on the window-seat; we had for 
dinner what was very plentiful at that time, fish and potatoes ; 
and in my prayer I said, ' Dear Lord, thou hast said that my 
child shall live, but she has not eaten any meat yet.' And she 
began to eat there and then. She is living now, and is the 
mother of ten children; so the Lord made the devil a liar 
once more. The devil did not do me any hurt; he only made 
me bolder. 

"I had only two pounds, and the cost would' be seven 
pounds by the time the roof was on. I borrowed a horse, and 
rode ten or twelve miles from where I lived, up among the 
farmers, and asked one of them whether he had any reed to 
sell, for I wanted three hundred sheaves. He told me that he 
had, and that it was two pounds for a hundred. So I told the 
farmer to bring three hundred sheaves to me as soon as he 
could, and some spears for them. But I did not tell him that 
I had only two pounds. He brought down one hundred first, 
and some spears. I had three pounds when he came; so I 
paid him for the hundred of reed, and the spears, and had a 
few shillings left. I asked the farmer to bring down the rest 
of the reed as soon as he could, but I didn't tell him I had not 
money to pay for it. And it was not necessary that I should, 
for, by the time the other two hundred sheaves were sent, a 
friend gave me money to pay for it. Then I put a man to 
work to cover the roof, and that would cost one pound, ten 
shillings, with a little other work besides; and when the man 
came to be paid, I had but one pound; so I wanted ten shil- 
lings more. The Lord put it into my mind to go into a high 
road near, where a great many people went up and down to 

work; and the first man I met was P B . I said to 

him, ' You have not given me anything yet toward my Father's 
house.' And he said, 'No; nor do I intend to.' I replied, 
* What, are you 'amind' for the Lord to say to you in that day, 
You saw me an hungered, and gave me no meat; thirsty, and 
ye gave me no drink; a stranger, and ye took me not in; 
naked, and ye clothed me not ? ' And he said, ' Well, I don't 
mind if I do give you ten shillings.' I said, ' That is just the 



102 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

money I want.' So he gave me the ten shillings, and I went 
home and paid the thatcher. 

"After that I wanted timber for the door and windows and 
forms. A mine had lately stopped, and they were selling off 
the timber. There was a bargain in timber, for one pound, six 
shillings; but I had no money to buy it. To a friend who 
asked me whether I had been to the mine, and bought any 
timber, I said I had not, because I had no money. Then he 
gave me one pound, and with that, and some other sums the 
Lord sent me from other places, I was able to buy what I 
wanted. As the timber had to be brought home to the dear 
Lord's house, I wanted a horse and cart* One of the neigh- 
bors had a horse, but he said she would not draw anything. 
I asked him to lend her to me. He told me I might have her, 
but she would not draw; but I took the mare and put her in 
the cart, and brought the timber home. I never saw a better 
horse in my life. I did not touch her with whip or stick, 
though we had steep hills to come over. When I took back 
the mare, and told my neighbor, ' I never saw a better mare/ 
he said, ' I never saw such a thing ; she will not draw with any 
one else.' That mare was working that day for a very strong 
company, Father, Son and Holy Ghost; horses, angels, men 
and devils must obey them. If there had been no one there 
more powerful than Billy Bray, she would have been as bad 
with him as with anybody else. But, bless and praise the 
name of the dear Lord, He said, 'The horse shall work, for 
the timber is to seat my house;' and what the dear Lord says 
shall be obeyed. 

"I went on and finished the chapel. Then some of them 
said, ' Now your chapel is done, you shall not have preaching 
there.' When they said that, I locked up the chapel door, and 
carried the key home, and hung it to a nail behind the door. 
I said, 'Lord, there is the key; I have done what thou hast 
told me to do; the chapel is built, and there is the key; if it is 
Thy will the key should stay there seven years, or that it 
should be taken down every minute in the day, Thy will be 
done, my dear Lord.' That very day our preacher appointed 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 103 

services at the new chapel, even more frequently than I should 
have asked, had I been present." 



RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL. 



THE person referred to in this narrative was the son of a 
devoted New England minister, and the child of many 
prayers. His mind was carefully stored with religious 
knowledge, and disciplined in the best schools in his native 
city. Evil companionships, however, early led him astray 
from the paths of virtue. A vicious habit of novel reading 
alienated him from the open fountains of wisdom, and drew 
him away from parental influence and restraint. 

At length his restless and adventurous spirit sought a sphere 
of unchecked indulgence, and he went to the Pacific coast. 
There he found his associates among the thoughtless sons of 
fortune, and gave himself to the life of a homeless adventurer. 
Prosperity and adversity served alike to harden his heart. 
Early convictions were stifled; Divine worship neglected. 

But there were bands in his wickedness stronger than those 
of Satan. The anxious and aching hearts of his parents were 
turned toward God. Unceasing, believing prayer ascended in 
his behalf. His father, especially, cherished the unwavering 
conviction that his wayward son, after running the prodigal's 
career of vice and folly, would trace the prodigal's steps of 
penitence and salvation. Year after year he clung to the 
divine promises, and pleaded them earnestly at the mercy seat. 
He felt that he could not be denied. 

A few days ago the hearts of the parents were gladdened by 
the intelligence that the lost was found — that the prodigal had 
returned. He had visited a remote South American port, and 
on his return voyage he was the only cabin passenger. The 
captain had depended on him to furnish a supply of cards, 
novels, and other sources of time-killing and soul-destroying 
amusements; and he, in turn, knowing the disposition of the 
captain, had looked to him for an adequate supply. The few 



104 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

means of diversion were soon exhausted, and, after ten days 
at sea, the young man found nothing to do but think. His 
past life came up in review before him, and conscience revived. 
Early teachings whispered around him. An injured father's 
persevering faith, and a weeping mother's counsels, haunted 
his solitary berth. The emptiness of worldly pleasures and 
the vanity of earthly plans led him to reflect on the surer joys 
and riches of the Christian. He turned to the Scriptures and 
read his condemnation. His guilt rose mountain-high, as the 
Holy Spirit unfolded the immaculate law. He fell upon his 
knees and cried for pardon. 

By one of those providences which callTorth the adoration 
of the devout, there were, in the cabin of this ship, copies of 
Nelson's Cause and Cure of Infidelity, Baxter's Call to the 
Unconverted, James' Anxious Inquirer, and Abbott's Young 
Christian — the first to dispel his skeptical doubts, the second 
to fasten the arrow of conviction in his heart, the third to 
instruct his inquiring soul, and the last to present encourage- 
ments and allurements to the Christian life. He read them all 
prayerfully. Before the vessel landed at San Francisco, the 
great question was settled, we hope, forever. He found peace 
in believing, and entered at once on the new life of Christian 
discipleship. He made his way immediately to the sanctuary, 
engaged in Sabbath school instruction, sought the company 
of ministers and godly men — abandoning his former com- 
panions in sin, or visiting them only to labor for their salvation ; 
and his letters to his parents breathed the spirit of penitence 
and consecration, coupled with the most touching expressions 
of gratitude and affection. The "fatted calf" would be a small 
testimony of the joy that fills the house long saddened by the 
wandering prodigal, but now gladdened by his return. 

Christian parents, and especially those whose sons are far 
away from home and from God, will find encouragement to 
their faith in this narrative. There are few cases apparently 
more hopeless of repentance and conversion than the one 
before us. Pride kept him from coming home; an evil con- 
science restrained him from places and companionships likely 



SKETCHES AXD AXECDOTES. 105 

to benefit him: only a vigorous faith could anticipate the 
possibility of a change. Yet Grace triumphed; God's truth is 
vindicated; everlasting promises have their fulfilment; the 
prodigal returns. Trust that Grace; cling to those promises; 
your prodigal son may yet be saved. 



I KNEW I DID WRONG. 



WILLIAM WILLIAMS, a valuable and dedicated min- 
ister of the Society of Friends, residing in the State 
of Tennessee, says : " I think proper to relate a circum- 
stance which took place as I was traveling, which is as follows: 
"I was alone, and put up at a professor's house to lodge. 
After I had been in the hall a little while, the landlord asked 
to be excused, and walked out to order his evening business, 
so that I was left alone, which gave me a better opportunity to 
hear what was passing in an adjoining room, where one of the 
company raised her voice in singing praises to her Maker (as 
she called it), and after a short line, it broke off into very loud 
laughter, and so on for four; so that I thought I should be 
under the necessity of telling my thoughts, if I should get an 
opportunity. Supper was soon set in the hall, and they were 
invited to sup, whereupon the landlady and four young women 
came in, and we sat down and supped. 

"After we had done, before we left the table, I brought on 
the discourse I wished, by observing to the landlady, that I 
hardly thought that these were her daughters. She answered 
that two of them were her daughters, and the other two were 
neighbors, who had come on a visit. I thought I could mark 
out the singer; so I spoke and said, 'It is likely I may give 
you reason to think that I am a meddling traveler, for I have 
some remarks to make to you, from what I have heard since I 
came here.' I then told them what I had heard as above 
related. I told them not to misunderstand me, for I was not 
speaking against praising their Maker, if it was done with the 
Spirit; but against its being interrupted by loud, unbecoming 



106 SKETCHES A ND AN EC DO TES. 

laughter; a thing that ought to be beneath the dignity of so 
noble beings as they were, at any time, and much more when 
eno-ao-ed in that exercise. 

" I told them it brought to my remembrance the words of 
the apostle, where he was speaking of the unruliness of the 
tongue, with which, saith he 'we bless God and curse men; 
these things ought not so to be.' (James 3: 9, 10.) Said I, 
'these things ought not to be mixed together.' When I was 
done, the noble young woman whom I had marked out in my 
mind, spoke and said, ' I thank you kindly, sir, for your rebuke. 
I am the very one, and I knew I was doing wrong when I did 
it; yea,' said she, 'there was something here (clapping her 
hand on her breast) which told me that it was wrong.' 

"After some further conversation she observed, referring to 
sin in the heart, that the leprosy was out of the power of man 
to cure. I said it was ; but did she not think that Christ was 
able to heal the leprosy now, as He was when here on earth ? 
She said He v/as. But, continued she, we read that it gets 
into the wall, then the wall has to be taken down and rebuilt 
before it can be cleansed. (Lev. 14: 37-43.) And this, she 
said, was a great work. To which I agreed, and asked if it 
was not a necessary work to salvation. She said it was. I 
asked if she did not think it was a possible work, through the 
assistance of the Spirit of Christ. After a solemn pause, she 
said it was. So I told her, if we have a great work to do, and 
a necessary work, it is no matter how soon we begin, in faith, 
to do it. To which she acknowledged, and was silent. 

"Then I took the opportunity, in a few words, to open to her 
and the rest, that to do this work was to attend to that in the 
breast, which tells us when we do wrong. For instance, if thou 
(directing my discourse to the young woman) hadst attended 
to that within at first, perhaps thou wouldst not have been 
overtaken in the first breach of good order, much less to have 
repeated it. For. that which spoke in thy breast, and told thee 
that thou wast doing wrong, was Christ within, the saint's hope 
of glory, who has descended into the hearts of the children of 
men, in order to heal them from all sin and leprosy, and make 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 107 

them a pure people, and enable them to praise God in humility 
of spirit, and purity of mind; then this degrading thing of 
loud laughter would be far from our minds, and we should be 
preserved from being overtaken by that fault, as well as by all 
others." 

As W. W. was about to retire for the night, they came in 
and said to him: "You are a traveler, and will likely be up 
and gone in the morning, before we shall come down from our 
chamber, and we thought we could do no less than take our 
solemn leave of you, and once more thank you for your advice 
and counsel, hoping we may never forget it nor you." 

" So said they all as they bid me farewell, with tears flowing 
from their eyes, which they did not try to hide, for the truth 
had tendered their hearts. So we parted in great tenderness 
and love." 



INCIDENTS AND REFLECTIONS. 



ANNA SHIPTON mentions a case, related to her by a 
friend, who met a young man coming out of the surgery 
of a Medical Mission, who was evidently far gone in 
consumption, and who was fully conscious of his condition. 
In a conversation which followed, after expressing the hope he 
felt of eternal rest when this life was ended, he gave the follow- 
ing relation: 

"'This morning, when I was coming here, my landlady saw 
me in the passage, and said, ' Mr. Weeks, you look very ill.' 
I answered, 'Yes; I feel very ill.' She put her head behind 
the door, which she held in her hand, and after whispering to 
some one within, she remarked, 'We should like you to get 
another lodging.' I well knew what that meant; so I returned 
to my room, and threw myself on my knees before the Lord, 
telling Him that I had no friends, no money, and no home; 
and begged Him to provide some place for me, and tell me 
where to go.' 

" ' Well, what do you think of doing ? ' 



108 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

"'The Lord has not told me yet; it was only this morning 
that I asked Him,' he replied with great simplicity. 

" I gave him my address, and told him to let me hear from 
him as soon as he moved. 

"At the end of the week I received a letter, saying that he 
was much worse in health, and would like to see me at No. — 

street. I went and found my friend in a cheerful parlor, 

nicely carpeted; a round table in the centre covered with 
books, and the window gay with geraniums, fuchsias, and other 
flowers, bright in the morning sunshine. 

"In a corner with linen clean and white, was the bed in 
which lay Weeks, propped up with pillows. A little table 
stood by his side, with a flower freshly gathered, and a tumbler 
of toast and water. I mention these marks of attention, as 
evidence of the interest and kindness of those who had under- 
taken to care for him. His face brightened up as he welcomed 
me; but the pallor of death was unmistakable. 

"'Well, Weeks, I think you have got into very comfortable 
quarters. How did you find them out ? ' 'I did not find them 
out, he answered with a smile. ' Why, did you not know these 
people?' 'No.' 'How then did you come here?' 'I got a 
message to come here and I should find a lodging, and I came. 
Oh, they are so kind and good ! And I am happy, far more 
so than I can tell you.' Then clasping his emaciated hands, 
and looking up, he said, ' But what will it be to be there ! Bless 
the Lord, O my soul : and all that is within me bless His holy 
name. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and forget not all His 
benefits.' 

"Before taking my leave, I expressed a wish to see the 
friends whom God had given him. ' You will find them in the 
back,' he said; 'they have given me their parlor, and are living 
in their kitchen.' 

" I found an elderly woman, and her daughter who was mar- 
ried, but the husband was away. I asked them how they knew 
the poor fellow in the parlor. 'We did not know him,' they 
said, 'but we heard that a Christian was being turned out of his 
lodging because he was dying. We inquired about him, found 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 109 

him out, and tried to get him a lodging; but no one would 
take him in, when they heard he could not live long, and of 
course we were obliged to tell them that, you know. So at 
last we said, 'He belongs to Jesus, so we'll just take him in 
ourselves, and care for him.' " 

David Ferris relates that when he was quite young, a 
circumstance occurred which much affected his mind, and 
afforded him lasting instruction. He says : 

"As I was riding through a river and against a rapid current, 
a young dog attempted to swim after me. The stream being 
too strong for him, he could not keep up with my horse. He 
appeared to be in the utmost distress, even to desperation. As 
my mind was filled with pity for the poor animal, it was opened 
to view the awful amazement a poor soul must be in, when 
leaving the world destitute of hope. As simple a circumstance 
as this may appear, it was, I believe, of use to me for years. 
My mind was humbled under a sense of my daily want of 
divine help; and as I abode under a religious concern, attend- 
ing to the reproofs of instruction, which are the way to life, 
an increase of light and life was communicated to me; so that 
I came to delight in virtue. As my desires and care for divine 
things increased, the knowledge of them was unfolded. I 
could truly say, the Lord was my delight." 

Various are the means made use of by our Heavenly Father 
to arrest the attention of the careless and ungodly, as well as 
to instruct and teach His people. There is on record, an old 
anecdote of an innkeeper addicted to intemperance, who had 
heard that the singing at a place of worship some miles from 
his home was peculiarly pleasing, and who went to gratify his 
curiosity, but with a determination not to hear a word of the 
sermon. 

Having with difficulty found admission into a narrow open 
pew, he listened with great attention to the singing of a hymn, 
but as soon as it was finished, secured both his ears against 
the sermon with his fore-fingers. He had not been in this 
.position many minutes, before the prayer was finished, and the 
sermon commenced with an awful appeal to the consciences of 



no SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

the hearers, of the necessity of attending to the things which 
belong to their everlasting peace; and the minister addressing 
them solemnly said, " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." 
The moment before these words were pronounced, a fly fast- 
ened on the face of the innkeeper, and stung him sharply; so 
that he drew one of his fingers from his ears to brush off the 
painful visitant. At that very time, the words, " He that hath 
ears to hear, let him hear," pronounced with great solemnity, 
entered the ear that was opened as a clap of thunder. It 
struck him with irresistible force: he kept his hand from 
returning to his ear, and, feeling an impression he had never 
known before, he presently withdrew the other finger, and 
hearkened with deep attention to the discourse which followed. 
A salutary change was produced in him. He abandoned his 
former evil practices, 'became truly serious, and for many years 
went, during all seasons, six miles- to the place of worship 
where he had first been awakened. 

Another interesting incident, which may be found in White- 
cross' Anecdotes of the New Testament, is that of a man 
bitterly hostile to religion, who had long been an opposer of 
his pious wife. One morning he took an axe, and went to his 
wood-lot to fell some trees. As he looked around, he saw one 
tree dead and dry, with its leafless branches extended into the 
air, and he said to himself, "That tree I will cut down; it is 
dead and dry, fit only to burn." At that moment the thought 
rushed into his mind, "Am not I a dead tree, fit only to burn?" 
He tried to banish the thought, but it was an arrow from the 
quiver of the Almighty. He went to the tree and struck a few 
blows with his axe. But the thought still rankled in his heart, 
"Am not I a dead tree, fit only to burn ? Will not God say con- 
cerning me, ' Cut him down, for he cumbereth the ground ? ' " 
Again and again he tried to drive away the unwelcome and 
harrowing thought. He plied his axe with increasing vigor, 
but every blow seemed but to deepen the conviction of his 
own spiritual deadness. At last he could endure no longer; 
he returned to his home, went to his chamber, fell upon his 
knees before God, and cried for mercy. 



SKE TCHES A XD A NE CD TES. 1 1 1 

In the same work an account is given of a woman who had 
spent an afternoon and evening at cards, in gay company; who, 
when she came home, found her maid-servant reading a pious 
book. "Poor melancholy soul,' said she, "what pleasure canst 
thou find in pouring so long over a book like that?" 

After she had gone to bed, she could not sleep; but lay 
sighing and weeping so much, that her servant, overhearing 
her, came and asked what was the matter with her. At length 
she burst into a flood of tears, and said, " Oh ! it was one word 
that I saw in your book that troubles me; there I saw that 
word, eternity r 

The consequence of this impression was, that she laid aside 
her cards, forsook gay company, and set herself in earnest to 
prepare for another world. 



A BACKSLIDER'S SIN. 



THOMAS D , who lived in M , had a large family 
to support. Time was when he delighted to attend relig- 
ious meetings, to read his Bible and other good books, 
and endeavored to instruct his children in the fear of God. 

In the year 1826 work was very slack, and Thomas strug- 
gled hard against poverty and sickness. Great indeed were his 
trials; but instead of taking them to the Lord, and calling 
upon him for help, he sank into a low state bordering on 
despondency. This was Satan's opportunity. When Thomas 
was reduced to this strait, and feared that his wife and little 
ones would be famished, he meditated upon and planned a step 
at which he formerly would have shuddered. He resolved on 
stealing a lamb from the flock of a neighboring farmer. This, 
after many inward struggles, was accomplished, and that, too, 
without detection. The lamb was killed and brought home. 
To the inquiries of his wife Thomas gave an evasive answer, 
and part of the stolen provision was cooked for supper. The 
poor woman called her husband from the loom when it was 
ready, and when he was about to ask a blessing upon it, he 



ii2 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

was as one speechless, and snatching up the dish before his 
astonished family, he went with it to the farmer's house and 
confessed his guilt. "My life," said he, "is yours, or, if you 
spare it, I will try and pay you for the lamb." The farmer was 
touched with his tale of misery and want, and the voluntary 
confession of the theft. He told the poor fellow to take the 
dish and its contents back to his cottage, and freely forgave 
him for what he had done. 



THEY SHALL NOT BLUSH FOR THEIR FATHER. 



TWO men had entered into an agreement to rob their 
neighbor. Everything was planned. They were to enter 
the house at midnight, break open his chests and drawers, 
and carry off the gold and silver they could find. 

" He is rich, and we are poor," said they to each other, by 
the way of encouragement in the evil they were about to 
perform. " He will never miss a little gold, while its possession 
will make us happy. Besides, what right has one man to all 
this world's goods ? " 

Thus they talked together. One of the men had a wife and 
children, but the other had no one in the world to care for but 
himself. The man who had the children went home and joined 
his family, after agreeing upon a place of meeting with the 
other, at the darkest hour of the coming night. 

" Dear father," said one of the children, climbing upon his 
knee, I am so glad you have come." 

The presence of the child troubled the man, and he tried to 
push him away, but his arms clung tighter about his neck, and 
he laid his face against his cheek, and in a sweet, gentle voice, 
said: 

" I love you, father." 

Involuntarily the man drew the innocent and loving one to 
his bosom, and kissed him. 

There were two other children in the man's dwelling, a boy 
and a girl. They were poor, and these children worked daily 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 113 

to keep up the supply of bread, made deficient, more through 
idleness on the part of the father than from lack of employ- 
ment. These children came in soon after their father's return, 
and brought him their earnings for the day. 

" O father ! " said the boy, " such a dreadful thing has hap- 
pened. Henry Lee's father was arrested to-day for robbing. 
They took him out of our shop, when Henry was there, and 
carried him off to prison. I was so sad when I saw Henry 
weeping. He hung his head for shame, for shame of his own 
father ! Only think of that ! " 

The man did not reply to the words of his son, but turned 
his face away to conceal his expression. 

"Ashamed of his father ! " thought he. "And will my 
children hang their heads also in shame ? No, no, that shall 
never be !" 

At the hour of midnight, the man who had no children to 
throw around him a sphere of better intention, was waiting at 
the place of rendezvous for him whose children had saved him. 
But he waited long in vain. Then he said: 

"I will do the deed myself, and take the entire reward;" and 
he did according to his word. 

When the other man went forth to his labor the next day, 
he learned that his accomplice had been taken in the act of 
robbery, and was already in prison. 

"Thank heaven for virtuous children!" said he, with fervor. 
"They have saved me. Never will I do anything that will 
cause them to blush for their father." 



A WORK OF GRACE. 



IT WAS about the year 1830 that a young girl, Elizabeth 
H , left her home to go to the village of Great Falls, 

N. H., to work in a cotton mill which had been recently 
erected there. She had become discontented in school, having 
seen her young friends, who had worked in the factory, come 

home with their fine dresses and gold necklaces and shell 

H 



ii 4 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

combs, and she wanted to go away and work, and procure 
such things, which seemed so very pleasing to her childish 
eyes. Her judicious mother urged her to remain at school 
and obtain an education ; but she was anxious to go, and her 
father, who worked in the mill, consented, and came home one 
time and said he had found her a place to work. Her mother 
wept as she parted with her, but she said: 

"Well, Elizabeth, you will go, and your father is willing, 
and I can only give you into God's hands, and pray for you." 

She went to the factory, and entered a boarding-house where 
there were one hundred and ten girls, wfth hardly a Christian 
among them. They were giddy, wild and gay, and she heard 
what she never heard before, oaths and curses from the lips of 
women. 

Elizabeth was a great reader, and having exhausted her 
stock of novels and romances, she one night went into the 
adjacent room, occupied by a Methodist girl, to get something 
to read. The girl loaned her a tract, Serious Thoughts on 
Eternity. She read it through in a few minutes, and went to 
bed. It fastened itself on her mind, and she got up again and 
read it over. There was no slumber for her that night, and 
from that time for three weeks she could hardly eat or sleep. 
She felt herself the chief of sinners, and knew not the way of 
escape. She had as a room-mate a backslider, and she once 
asked her, if she would pray with her if she would kneel down 
by her side. She reluctantly promised that she would, but 
before she reached their room the room-mate was in bed, and 
she was left to struggle with her convictions alone. 

Elizabeth was in great distress. At ten o'clock, when they 
came to take the lights away from the rooms, she still sat 
trembling in her chair in agony of soul, and at length fell on 
her knees in the darkness and prayed: 

" O, God, if there is a God, either take me out of the world, 
or give me what the Christian has to take away the fear of 
death ! " 

While on her knees, there came to her mind a revelation of 
the justice of God, and the depth of her own guilt, and Christ 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 115 

was manifested to her as the Saviour of sinners, of whom she 
was the chief. 

She went into the mill the next day, and it seemed on the 
way, as if she wanted to kiss every blade of grass that grew, 
because her God had made them. The day was one of joy 
and gladness, and rest and peace. Others of the girls, who 
were her fellow-boarders and workers in the factory, were influ- 
enced by her example, and by the visitation of Divine Grace 
extended to them, and became changed in life and character. 

About this time a minister in New Hampshire, who knew 
nothing of these circumstances, had an impression on his 
mind, " You must go to Great Falls." He sought in prayer to 
be released from this impression, but it continued. He was 
unwilling to go there; wickedness abounded; there w T as little 
to attract him; it was a hard and godless field; and he prayed 
the Lord to excuse him from this service. But all was in vain ; 
he must go to Great Falls and preach the Gospel. Shortly after, 
he attended the Annual Conference, where the bishop assigned 
the preachers their stations for the year. As the bishop was 
calling the roll and announcing the appointments, he mentioned 

S , naming the place to which he was assigned. Instantly 

he arose and said : 

" Not so, Bishop ; the Lord says I must go to Great Falls 
this year." 

"What God has made known to you I dare not contradict," 
said the bishop. "Go!" 

And so he was assigned to that station. He came there a 
tall, spare, vigorous athletic man, in the prime of life, and with 
great power bore witness to the Gospel of Christ, preaching 
righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. His great 
plainness of speech offended many, but their complaints made 
little impression upon him, and to those who desired him to 
soften his words and smooth his tongue, he replied: 

"I was not sent here by the bishop, but by the Lord; and I 
shall preach to please the Lord, if I preach to bare walls." 

There was little likelihood of his preaching to bare walls. 
The congregation filled the house and crowded it. The young 



u6 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

converts from the boarding-house came to hear and rejoice. 
The place was too strait for the people, and the next year 
two ministers were sent instead of one. The field of labor 
grew larger; other churches were subsequently organized, and 
houses of worship erected; and, though many years have 
passed since then, the memories of those wonderful meetings 
do not fade from the minds of those who participated in them. 
Seed was sown for an immortal harvest, and much people were 
added to the Lord. 

A few days since we saw Elizabeth, now a gray-haired 
grandmother, and heard her tell this story of her conversion, 
and the great revival which followed. And we remember a 
day, in the summer of 1879, when we stood by the dying bed 
of that preacher, an old man of four-score and three years, 
who had lived through a long life of struggle, conflict and 
testimony, by no means free from errors and mistakes, but who 
came to his grave in peace and hope, like a shock of corn fully 
ripe, waiting for the harvest of immortality. 



JOHN WOOLMAN. 



THIS Friend was remarkable in many respects. He was 
particularly guarded in his expressions, being careful 
that his assertions should be strictly and literally true; 
and he appears to have inculcated a similar care in others, in a 
gentle and yet impressive manner. It is reported that being 
once employed, with the aid of an assistant, in clearing an 
orchard of caterpillars, that had formed webs on the branches, 
and having gone, as he supposed, over the orchard, expressed 
his belief that they were done ; but his companion perceiving 
that one was left, with a considerable collection on, mentioned 
the circumstance, with the declaration, that it was as full as it 
could hold. John Woolman going to the tree remarked, there 
was room for a number more on it. 

Two young men wishing to try whether he could not be 
drawn to utter, by mistake, an expression not literally true, are 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 117 

said to have gone to his house, the first taking a seat in his 
parlor, and the other coming a little afterward to his door. 
Upon the latter knocking at the door, John Woolman went to 
receive him, and as soon as he left the room where they were 
sitting, the young man went out another way. The one at the 
door then inquired for his companion, expecting of course to 
be answered, "He is in the parlor." But John was not so 
easily caught. His answer was simple and literally true : "I 
left him in my parlor." 

His conduct was probably as guarded as his language. 
Abel Thomas, a religious young man, residing for awhile in 
his family, was frequently reminded of his faults, until he 
began to think himself rather closely scrutinized, and con- 
cluded to reciprocate his kindness by pointing out some of his 
faults; but they must be found, and to find them was no easy 
task. After watching him for months, he was unable to fix 
upon anything bearing the appearance of a fault, except one 
trivial circumstance. He had passed a man in the street with- 
out reciprocating a friendly recognition; but when told of it, 
his mind appeared to have been otherwise occupied, for the 
man was not observed. 



NOBLE CONDUCT. 



A CORRESPONDENT of the Blair County (Pa.) Whig, 
furnishes that paper with the particulars of the follow- 
ing interesting incident, of which he was an eye-witness. 
It occurred some years ago on the line of the great internal 
improvements of that State. 

At the point this side of the mountain, w T here occurred the 
transhipment of passengers from the West, was moored a 
canal-boat, awaiting the arrival of the train ere starting on its 
way through to the East. The captain of the boat, a tall, 
rough, sun-embrowned man, stood by his craft, superintending 
the labors of his men, when the cars rolled up, and a few min- 
utes after a party of about half a dozen gentlemen came out, 



uS SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

and deliberately walking up to the captain, addressed him 
something after this wise : 

" Sir, we wish to go on east, but our farther progress to-day 
depends on you. In the cars, we have just left, is a sick man, 
whose presence is disagreeable. We have been appointed a 
committee, by the passengers, to ask that you will deny this 
man a passage on your boat. If he goes, we remain; what 
say you ? " 

" Gentlemen," replied the captain, " I have heard the passen- 
gers through their committee. Has the sick man a represen- 
tative here ? " ' 

To this unexpected interrogatory there was no answer; 
when, without a moment's pause, the captain crossed over to 
the car, and entering, beheld in one corner a poor, emaciated, 
worn-out creature, whose life w T as nearly eaten up by that 
canker-worm, consumption. The man's head was bowed in 
his hands, and he was weeping. The captain advanced and 
spoke to him kindly. 

" Oh ! sir,'' said the shivering invalid, looking up, his face 
now lit with trembling expectations, " are you the captain, and 
will you take me ? God help me ! The passengers look upon 
me as a breathing pestilence, and are so unkind ! You see, sir, 
I am dying ; but oh ! if I am spared to reach my mother, I 
shall die happy. She lives in Burlington, sir, and my journey 
is more than half performed. I am a poor painter, and the 
only child of her in whose arms I wish to die ! " 

"You shall go," replied the captain, "if I lose every other 
passenger for the trip." 

By this time, the whole crowd of passengers were grouped 
around the boat, with their baggage piled on the path, and 
they, themselves, awaiting the decision of the captain before 
engaging their passage. 

A moment more and that decision was made known, as they 
beheld him coming from the cars with the sick man cradled in 
his arms. Pushing directly through the crowd with his dying 
burden, he ordered a mattress to be spread in the choicest part 
of the boat, where he laid the invalid with the care of a parent. 



SKETCHES A ND AN EC DO TES. 1 1 9 

That done, the captain directed the boat to be prepared for 
starting. 

But a new feeling seemed to possess the astonished passen- 
gers — that of shame and contrition at their inhumanity. With 
one common impulse they walked aboard the boat, and in a 
few hours after, another committee was sent to the captain, 
entreating his presence among the passengers in the cabin. 

He went, and from their midst there arose a white-haired 
man, who, with tear-drops starting in his eyes, told that rough, 
sun-embrowned man that he had taught them a lesson, that 
they felt humbled before him, and they asked his forgiveness. 
It was a touching scene. The fountain of true sympathy was 
broken up in the heart of nature, and its waters welled up, 
choking the utterance of all present. 

On the instant, a purse was made up for the sick man, with 
a "God speed" on his way home, to die in the arms of his 
mother. 



ANECDOTE OF C. G. STEINHOFER. 



DURING the year 1820, when C. G. Steinhofer was in 
America without his family, whilst in one of our Western 
towns, in the winter season, he heard of a community 
of religious people, about eighteen miles from the place where 
he was in, who, for some immoral conduct of their preacher, 
had dismissed him. Immediately he felt a great drawing of 
mind to visit this flock, who were without an earthly shepherd. 
The pressure on his mind was so great, and the inward call to 
prompt obedience so urgent, that, although there was a great 
depth of snow on the ground, he started to walk to the settle- 
ment where these religious people lived. As he passed on, his 
feet became very sore, and so blistered, that, before he had 
traveled half-way to the place he aimed at, he felt almost totally 
incapacitated for walking, and not being able to comprehend 
how he could finish the journey, felt tempted to doubt whether 
the concern he had felt was of Divine origin. Whilst musing 



j20 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

in pain and sorrowful doubt, he saw a man following along the 
road he had been traveling, riding on a horse, and leading 
another with a saddle on it. Immediately there was a reanima- 
tion of his drooping faith, and he was satisfied that he had 
been rightly led, believing the Lord had sent that horse for 
him to ride. He then thought, if the horse is for me, the man 
will ask me to ride, even if I say nothing. So he held his 
peace. The traveler looked at him earnestly, but passed by, 
and as, just before, the road made a descent, he was soon out 
of sight. At this, Christian felt a reproof in himself, remem- 
bering that it was the child's duty to ask for what it felt to be 
needful. He pressed forward, however, and, on reaching the 
brow of the hill, he saw the man was making very little 
progress, for the horse without a rider was holding back, and 
stubbornly resisting all forward movement. When in his 
struggling with him the rider moved backward, the horse 
became gentle, and appeared to be willing to move in that 
direction. On seeing the situation of things, the poor foot-sore 
traveler endeavored to hasten toward them, and the man on 
the horse, seeing him, rode back to meet him. He told Chris- 
tian he had better mount the horse. " I believe," he said, " I 
should have asked you to get on when I rode by you. My 
horse never acted this way before, although I went with him 
eighteen miles yesterday, and nine to-day." After they had 
traveled together for a time, the owner of the horse asked 
Christian where he was intending to go. On learning his 
destination, and the concern which was leading him there, the 
man exclaimed, " Surely the Lord must have a hand in this, 
and I have the right man. I started from home with this 
horse, on purpose to see if I could find a minister who would 
stay among us. Finding none, I was returning home disap- 
pointed." Christian's feet were very sore all that winter, but 
the kind man whom he had accompanied to the settlement, 
kept him at his house, lending . him a horse to ride to their 
meetings as they occurred. In these meetings, Christian was 
often made sensible of the Lord's presence, enabling him to 
labor among the people, and when he thought his duty was 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 121 

accomplished, he parted with the flock in love. The remem- 
brance of his sojourn there, was a great satisfaction to him 
afterward, and a renewed cause of thankfulness and love unto 
Him, who had been his leader and feeder from his youth. The 
Lord yet leadeth His children in paths they know not; — He is 
yet the Wonderful Counselor, — and those who trust in Him in 
living faith, He still upholds and supports in every trial, and 
through every difficulty. 



MARRIED WITHOUT SHOES. 



M™ 



ORE than twenty years ago a smart young fellow named 



Virginia, made up his mind to be married. 

"But you have not a penny," remonstrated his friends. 

" I have two hands. A man was given two hands, one to 
scratch for himself, the other for his wife," he said. 

On the day of the wedding Johnson appeared in a whole 
coat and trousers, but barefooted. 

"This is hardly decent," said the clergyman. "I will lend 
you a pair of shoes. " 

"No," said Johnson. "When I can buy shoes I will wear 
them — not before." 

And he stood up to be married without any thought of his 
feet. 

The same sturdy directness showed itself in his future 
course. What he had not money to pay for he did without. 
He hired himself to a farmer for a year's work. With the 
money he saved he bought a couple of acres of timber land 
and a pair of sheep, built himself a hut, and went to work on 
his ground. 

His sheep increased; as time flew by he bought more; then 
he sold off the cheaper kinds, and invested in Southdown and 
French Merino. His neighbors tried by turns raising cattle, 
horses, or gave their attention to experimental farming. 

Johnson, having once found out that sheep-raising in his 
district brought a handsome profit, stuck to it. He had that 



122 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

shrewdness in seeing the best way, and that dogged persistence 
in following it, which are the elements of success. 

Stock buyers from the Eastern market found out that John- 
son's fleeces were the finest and his mutton the sweetest on the 
Cheat. He never allowed his reputation to fail — the end of 
which course is, that the man who married barefoot is now 
worth a large property. 



EXHORTATION OF A MEXICAN INDIAN TO HIS SON 



M 



Y SON, we know not how long Heaven will grant to 
us the enjoyment of that precious gem which we 
possess in thee; but however short the period, 
endeavor to live exactly, praying God continually to assist 
thee. He created thee; thou art his property. He is thy 
father, and loves thee still more than I do. Repose in him thy 
thoughts, and day and night direct thy sighs to him. Rever- 
ence and salute thy elders, and hold not one in contempt. To 
the poor and distressed be not dumb, but rather use words of 
comfort. Honor all persons, particularly thy parents, to whom 
thou owest obedience, respect, and service. 

" Mock not, my son, the aged or imperfect. Scorn not him 
whom thou seest fall into some folly or transgression, nor 
make him reproaches; but restrain thyself, and beware lest 
thou fall into the same error which offends thee in another. 
Go not where thou art not called, nor interfere in that which 
does not concern thee. Endeavor to manifest thy good breed- 
ing in all thy words and actions. 

"In conversation, do not lay thy hands upon another, nor 
speak too much, nor interrupt or disturb another's discourse. 
When any one is discoursing with thee, hear him attentively, 
and hold thyself in an easy attitude, neither playing with thy 
feet, nor putting thy mantle to thy mouth, nor spitting too 
often, nor looking about here and there, nor rising up fre- 
quently if thou art sitting; for such actions are indications of 
levity and low breeding." 



SKETCHES AXD ANECDOTES. 123 

He proceeds to mention several vices, which are to be par- 
ticularly avoided, and concludes with — "Steal not, nor give 
thyself to gaming; otherwise thou wilt be a disgrace to thy 
parents, whom thou oughtest to honor for the education they 
have given thee. If thou wilt be virtuous, thy example will 
put the wicked to shame. Xo more, my son : enough has been 
said in discharge of the duties of a father. With these coun- 
sels I wish to fortify thy mind. Refuse them not, nor act in 
contradiction to them, for in them thy life and all thy happiness 
depends." 



EX-PRESIDENT JEFFERSON AND THE COOPER'S SHOP 



THE following was related, many years since, by one of the 
parties, who was a very respectable citizen of Mont- 
gomery county, Pa., since deceased: 
During the presidential term of Thomas Jefferson, two 
young men from Pennsylvania took a lease from him of his 
merchant mill at Monticello, one of the stipulations of which 
was, that the landlord should erect for their use, within a given 
period, a cooper's shop. The time for a meeting of Congress 
soon arriving, the President had to repair to Washington to 
attend to his official duties, where he remained a long time 
absorbed in national concerns, and the building of the coopers' 
shop was entirely forgotten by him. Xot so with his tenants, 
whose daily wants constantly reminded them of the provisions 
contained in the lease, and finally they determined to erect it 
themselves, and charge the cost of it to their landlord. On 
the return of the President to his mansion, the parties met to 
settle a long account current, which had been running during 
his absence. The items were all gone over and scrutinized, 
one by one, and all were found satisfactory but the charge for 
building the cooper's shop, to which he objected, alleging that 
he could have erected it with their own workmen. Several 
attempts were made to effect a settlement, but they always 
failed when they came to the cooper's shop. The young men 



124 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

became warm and zealous in the affair; and the parties, instead 
of getting nearer together, found themselves at every interview 
wider apart. 

In this state of affairs, the father of the young men, who 
was a mild, affable, conciliating gentleman, possessing some 
knowledge of the world and its ways, arrived on a visit to his 
sons, who informed him of their difficulty with their landlord. 
He requested them to leave it to him, observing that he 
thought he could effect an amicable settlement in the case. 
This course was accordingly acceded to, and in due time he 
waited on the President with the account. It was scanned and 
agreed to, except the charge for building the shop, which, he 
said, with some firmness, he should not allow for reasons 
stated. His opponent, observing his apparent decision on the 
subject, very gravely remarked: "Well, friend Jefferson, it has 
always been my practice, through life, to yield rather than to 
contend." Immediately on this remark being made, the Presi- 
dent's chin fell on his breast for an instant, when raising his 
head in an erect position, he observed in a very emphatic man- 
ner, "A very good principle, Mr. Shoemaker, and I can carry 
it as far as you can : let the account for building the cooper's 
shop be allowed." Thus ended the difficulty, and the parties 
continued their friendly regard for each other till death separa- 
ted them. And the cultivation of a similar disposition, "to 
follow peace with all men," would terminate thousands of diffi- 
culties, add much to the happiness of individuals, and tend to 
promote the general harmony and order of society. 






AGNES' LOST MONEY. 



T ] 



ITTLE Agnes felt very rich one morning, when she set 

_j out with two dollars in her pocket, with permission to 

spend them as she liked. She had earned the money 

picking strawberries, and had counted over the many things it 

would buy. But she made no note of the articles she wished 

to get, and her mind was much like a sieve. 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 125 

She was not much used to shopping, and the many tempting 
trifles she saw quite ran away with her judgment. She bought 
one little thing after another, thinking, " That is not much, I 
can certainly afford that." But all at once her money seemed 
to be gone. She was thrown into quite a flutter, and searched 
nervously through her handkerchief, but no money appeared. 
She was sure she had lost part of it, and went home in a very 
sorrowful mood. She told over her sad tale to her mother, 
who listened quietly, though she shrewdly suspected how the 
money had been lost 

" Let me see what you have bought with the part you did 
not lose," she said, at length. 

Rather reluctantly Agnes drew forth the bottle of cologne, 
gay neck-ribbon, pretty shawl-pin, pearl sleeve-buttons, ("so 
cheap, mother, only thirty cents;") paper of pins, flimsy hand- 
kerchief, with cheap lace edge, ("only fifty cents;") and then 
that ten-cent paper of candies was everything she bought. 
Where the rest of the money v/ent, she could not tell. She 
had just seven cents left in her pocket, when she decided to 
get herself a pretty white apron, but found to her dismay that 
she had " lost her money." 

"Just take your pencil, Agnes, and set down the several 
articles you have bought, with the prices, and then add them 
together; then you can see just how much is missing. Add in 
the seven cents also." 

Agnes figured away a few minutes, and then looked up with 
much surprise. 

"Why, mother, I have added it twice over, and it comes to 
just two dollars." 

" I thought so," said the mother. 

" Why, mother, it can't be possible that all these little things 
came to two dollars. I did not suppose that I had spent one." 

"I am very glad of the lesson, my dear, as nothing but 
experience would ever convince you how fast money runs 
away in little sums. Now, if you will begin a system of even 
penny accounts, I will give you a neat little book in which to 
set them down. Write down the article -honestly for which 



126 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

you spend your money, even if it is only a stick of candy. It 
may often serve as a check to wastefulness, and it will certainly 
keep you from suspecting that your money is lost or stolen, 
when it is only spent." 

If all young people would keep an accurate account of all 
the money they spend, even to the pennies, they would find it 
of great advantage in after life. Just such habits, in boyhood, 
have made millionaires of many, who had only a pair of hands 
for capital to start with. The want of such habits has brought 
to bankruptcy and poverty, if not to dishonor, many who once 
seemed special favorites of fortune. Remember Poor Richard's 
maxim about "taking care of the pence." 



INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF OLIVER HEYWOOD. 



THERE are some circumstances in the life of Oliver Hey- 
wood, who was a persecuted minister of the Seventeenth 
Century, which afford us pleasing ideas of the providen- 
tial care of God toward His people. The following anecdote, 
says his biographer, is authentic. It is said that his little stock 
of money was quite exhausted, the family provisions were 
entirely consumed, and Martha, a maid-servant who had lived 
with his family for several years, and who often assisted them, 
could now lend no more assistance from the little savings of 
former days. Oliver Heywood still trusted that God would 
provide, when he had nothing but the divine promise to live 
upon. He said: 

"When cruise and barrel both are dry, 
We still will trust in God most high." 

When the children began to be impatient for want of food, 
Oliver Heywood called his servant, and said to her, " Martha, 
take a basket, and go to Halifax ; call upon N , the shop- 
keeper, in Northgate, and tell him, I desire him to lend me five 
shillings: if he will be kind enough to do it, buy us some 
cheese, some bread, and such other little things as you know 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 127 

we must want: be as expeditious as you can in returning, for 
the poor children begin to be fretful for want of something to 
eat. Put on your hat and cloak, and the Lord give you good 
speed: in the mean time we will offer up our requests to Him 
who feedeth the young ravens when they cry, and who knows 
what we have need of before we ask Him." 

Martha observed her master's directions ; but when she came 
near the house where she was ordered to beg for the loan of 
five shillings, through timidity and bashfulness, her heart failed 
her. She passed by the door again and again, without having 
courage to go in and tell her errand. At length N , stand- 
ing at his shop door, and seeing Martha in the street, called 
her to him, and said, "Are you not Oliver Heywood's servant ? " 
When she had with an anxious heart answered in the affirma- 
tive, he added, " I am glad I have this opportunity of seeing 

you. Some friends at M have remitted to me five guineas 

for your master, and I was just thinking how I could contrive 
to send it." Martha burst into tears, and for some time could 
not utter a syllable. The necessities of the family, their trust 
in Providence, the seasonableness of the supply, and a variety 
of other ideas breaking in upon her mind at once, quite over- 
powered her. At length she told N upon what errand 

she came, but that she had not courage to ask him to lend her 
poor master money. The tradesman could not but be affected 
with the story, and told Martha to come to him when the like 
necessity should press upon them at any future time. She 
made haste to procure the necessary provisions, and, with a 
heart lightened of its burden, ran home to tell the success of 
her journey. 

The spirit of the persecution raged so warmly against him, 
that this worthy man was under the necessity of taking leave 
of his dear family, and going he knew not whither. But the 
question was, "How should he be equipped for the journey?" 
He had a horse, but the little money that remained must be 
left for the support of the family, for whom Oliver Heywood 
was much more concerned than for himself. One winter 
morning when it was yet dark, the horse was saddled; and 



123 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

this good man, after bidding adieu to his affectionate wife, and 
saluting his children in their beds, set out, like Abraham, when 
he left his father's house, not knowing whither he went. He 
moved silently along in by-ways- for some time, for fear of 
being seen, till he had got out of the neighborhood. Having 
not one farthing in his pocket to bear his traveling expenses, 
he committed himself to the protection of Providence. He 
determined at length to leave his horse at full liberty to go 
what way it would, and thus traveled on for a considerable 
part of the day, till both man and beast stood in great need of 
refreshment Toward evening the liorse bent its course to a 
farm house, a little out of the road. Oliver Heywood called 
at the door, and a clean, decent woman came out to inquire 
what he wanted. "I have reason," said he, "to make an 
apology for giving you this trouble, being a stranger in these 
parts. My horse stands in need, as v/ell as myself, of shelter 
and refreshment for the night. If you could in any way make 
it convenient to furnish him with a little hay, and a stand 
under cover, and myself a seat by your fireside, I ask no 
more." The good woman, a little surprised at his request, 
told him she would consult her husband. After a few minutes, 
they both came to the door, and Oliver Heywood renewed his 
solicitations, but told them that he had no money to satisfy 
them for any trouble they might have on his account; yet he 
hoped God would reward them. They immediately desired 
him to alight; the master led the horse into the stable, and 
the mistress took the stranger into the house, invited him to 
sit down, stirred up the fire, and began to prepare him some- 
thing to eat. Oliver Heywood told her that he was concerned 
at her giving herself so much trouble ; that, being unable to 
make her any recompense, he did not request either a supper 
or a bed, but only a seat by the fireside till morning. The 
mistress assured him, that for an act of hospitality she did not 
expect any reward, and that, though the accommodations her 
house would afford were indifferent, he should be welcome to 
them, and therefore, she hoped he would make himself easy. 
After supper, they all sat down by the fire, and the master 



SKETCHES A ND A NE CD TES. 1 29 

of the house desired to know of the stranger, what country- 
man he was. "I was born," said he, "in Lincolnshire, but I 
have a wife and family in the neighborhood of Halifax." 
"That is a town," said the farmer, "where I have been, and 
some years ago, I had a little acquaintance with several per- 
sons there. Pray do you know Mr. S , and Mr. D , 

and is old Mr. F yet alive?" The stranger gave suitable 

answers to these and many more inquiries. At length the 
kind hostess asked him, if he knew anything of one Oliver 
Heywood, who was formerly a minister at some chapel not far 
from Halifax, but was now, for some account or other, forbid- 
den to preach. The stranger replied, "There is a great deal 
of noise and talk about that man , some speak well, others say 
everything that is bad of him; for my own part, I can say 
little in his favor." " I believe," said the farmer, " he is of that 
sect which is everywhere spoken against; but, pray do you 
personally know him? and what is it that inclines you to form 
such an indifferent opinion of his character?" "I do know 
something of him," said the stranger; "but as I do not choose 
to propagate an ill report of any one, if you please, we will 
talk on some other subject." 

After keeping the farmer and his wife in suspense for some 
time (who were a little uneasy at what he had said), he told 
them, that he was the poor outcast of w T hom they had made 
so many kind inquiries. All was then surprise, and joy, and 
thankfulness, that a merciful Providence had brought him 
under their roof. The master of the house said, "Mr. Hey- 
wood, I am glad to see you here, having long had a sincere 
regard for you, from the favorable reports I have always heard 
of you. The night is not far spent. I have a few neighbors 
who love the Gospel ; if you will give them a few words of 
exhortation, I will run and acquaint them. This is an obscure 
place, and your coming here is not known, so I hope we shall 
have no interruption." Oliver Heywood consented; a small 
congregation was gathered; and he preached to them with 
that fervor, affection and enlargement, which attending circum- 
stances served to inspire. On this joyful occasion, a small 

I 



130 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

collection was voluntarily made to help the poor traveler on 
his way. 



THE STORY OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD'S MOTHER. 



HER maiden name was Eliza Ballou. She is a descendant 
of Maturin Ballou, a Huguenot of France, who was 
driven from his country upon the revocation of the 
edict of Nantes. 

He joined the colony of Roger Williams and settled in 
America. He built a meeting-place at Cumberland, R. L, 
which is still carefully preserved as a relic of the past, and is 
known as the Elder Ballou Meeting-House. At the time it 
was built there were no saw-mills, no nails, and few tools in 
the country. Its galleries, and pews, and even its floors, were 
hewn out of the solid logs, and put together with wooden 
pegs. 

Abram Garfield and Eliza Ballou, both emigrants from the 
State of New York, were married in 1821. They had gone in 
1830 to Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where a year later 
their son James was born, being their fourth child. Their log 
house was built when the heavy forest was but partly cleared 
away. The fences were not yet made about the fields when 
the father, in fighting a forest fire that threatened the destruc- 
tion of their home, overheated himself, was suddenly chilled, 
and in a few days died. His last words to his wife, as he 
looked upon his children, were : " I have planted four saplings 
in this forest. I must now leave them to your care." 

A happier family never dwelt in a palace than had been in 
that cabin home. Little James was but eighteen months old 
when his father died — too young to understand the irreparable 
loss, or feel the pangs of grief that well-nigh crushed other 
hearts. The neighbors came — only four or five families in a 
radius of ten miles — and wept with the widow and the father- 
less. With their assistance, the lifeless form was enclosed in a 
rough coffin, and buried in a corner of the wheat field near by. 



SKETCHES A ND A NE CDOTES. 131 

No sermon, no prayer, except the silent prayers that went up 
from aching hearts. Winter was approaching. Could human 
experience be more dreary than a woman left a widow, alone 
with her children in a wilderness swept by wintry storms! 
The howl of the wolves and the cry of the panthers never 
sounded so terrible, as during those long, desolate winter 
nights. It seemed to the weary ones that spring would never 
come again. But at last it did come, and swept away the snow 
and ice. The dead things of the field and forest returned to 
life, save only the dead in the corner of the wheat field, and 
hope was not revived in the cabin. There was no money in 
the house, there was a debt on the farm, and the food supply 
was limited. 

Then Eliza Garfield sought the advice of a neighbor, who 
had been kind to her in her time of trouble. He advised her 
to sell the farm, pay off the debt, and return to her friends, 
believing it to be impossible for her to support herself and her 
children there. Her reply was characteristic : 

" I can never throw myself and children upon the charity of 
friends. So long as I have health, I believe my Heavenly 
Father will bless these two hands, and make them able to sup- 
port my children. My dear husband made this home at the 
sacrifice of his life, and every log in this cabin is sacred to me 
now. It seems to me a holy trust that I must preserve as faith- 
fully as I would guard his grave." 

Her neighbors left her, and she went to the Friend that 
never fails, and asked God to make her duty clear to her; and 
when she came from her place of prayer, she felt that new 
light and strength had been given to her. She called her 
oldest son, Thomas, to her, and, though he w r as only a child 
ten years old, she laid the whole case before him. With the 
resolute courage of his race, he gladly promised that he would 
plow and sow, cut wood and milk the cows, if she would only 
keep the farm. So this brave mother and son commenced 
their work. She sold part of the farm, and paid every dollar 
of debt. Thomas procured a horse, plowed and sow r ed and 
planted. The mother with her own hands split the rails, and 



132 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

completed the fencing. But the harvest was still far away, and 
the corn was running low. The mother carefully measured 
her precious grain, counted the days to the reaping time, and, 
rinding it would be exhausted long before that, at their present 
rate of consumption, she resolved to live on two meals a day 
herself, that her children might not suffer. Then, as the store 
rapidly disappeared, she ate but a single meal herself, conceal- 
ing her self-denial from her children, until the blessed harvest 
brought relief. That year it was very abundant, and the wolf 
of hunger never came so near their door again. 

Still, there were many years of hardship and self-denial, in 
which the brave woman had to be father and mother, teacher 
and preacher to her children. She was the wise and tender 
friend, guiding them in the right way, and inspiring them to 
choose the best things in life. She still lives to see her great 
reward, "and her children rise up and call her blessed." 



ANECDOTE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



THE life of Abraham Lincoln, by J. G. Holland, furnishes 
some pleasing illustrations of that straight-forward hon- 
esty, which was so marked a feature in the character 
of this illustrious man. 

When a young man, he was employed as clerk and manager 
of a store at New Salem, Illinois. Here, on one occasion, he 
sold a woman a little bill of goods, amounting in value, by the 
reckoning, to two dollars and six and a quarter cents. He 
received the money, and the woman went away. On adding 
the items of the bill again, to make himself sure of correctness, 
he found that he had taken six and a quarter cents too much. 
It was night, and closing and locking the store, he started out 
on foot, a distance of two or three miles, for the house of his 
defrauded customer, and delivering over to her the sum, whose 
possession had so much troubled him, went home satisfied. 

On another occasion, just as he was closing the store for the 
night, a woman entered and asked for half a pound of tea. 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 133 

The tea was weighed out and paid for, and the store left for the 
night. The next morning Abraham entered to begin the 
duties of the day, when he discovered a four-ounce weight on 
the scales. He saw at once that he had made a mistake, and 
shutting the store, he took a long walk before breakfast to 
deliver the remainder of the tea. His biographer remarks that 
these are very humble incidents, but they illustrate his sensi- 
tive honesty better, perhaps, than they would if they were of 
greater moment. 

About this period of his life, he was appointed postmaster 
for New Salem. The business and emoluments of the office 
were both very small, and it was given to him, because he was 
the only man in the neighborhood who would take it, who 
could make out the returns. Not willing to be tied, to the 
office, as it yielded him no revenue that would reward him for 
the confinement, he made a post office of his hat. Whenever 
he went out, the letters were placed in his hat. He kept the 
office till it was discontinued or removed, but his accounts 
with the post office department were not settled till several 
years afterward. In connection with this settlement occurs an 
interesting exhibition of his rigid honesty. 

It was after he had become a lawyer, and had been made a 
legislator. He had passed through a period of great poverty, 
had acquired his education in the law in the midst of many 
perplexities, inconveniences and hardships, and had met with 
temptations, such as few men could resist, to make temporary 
use of any money he might have in his hands. One day, 
seated in the law office of his partner, the agent of the post 
office department entered and inquired if Abraham Lincoln 
was within. Lincoln responded to his name, and was informed 
that the agent had called to collect a balance due the depart- 
ment since the discontinuance of the New Salem office. A 
shade of perplexity passed over his face, which did not escape 
the notice of friends who were present. One of them said at 
once: "Lincoln, if you are in want of money, let us help you." 
He made no reply, but suddenly rose, and pulled out from a 
pile of books a little old trunk, and returning to the table, 



1 34 SKETCHES A ND A NE CD TES. 

asked the agent how much the amount of his debt was. The 
sum was named, and then he opened the trunk, pulled out a 
little package of coin wrapped in a cotton rag, and counted 
out the exact sum, which he had thus carefully laid away, 
amounting to more than seventeen dollars. After the agent 
had left the room, he remarked quietly that he never used any 
man's money but his own. Although this sum had been in his 
hands during all these years, he had never regarded it as avail- 
able, even for any temporary purpose of his own. 



THE INDIAN'S REPROOF. 



A SHOSHONE warrior possessed a beautiful mare; no 
horse on the prairie could outspeed her, and in the 
buffalo or bear hunt, she would enjoy the sport as much 
as her master, and run alongside the huge beast with great 
courage and spirit. Many propositions were made to the war* 
rior to sell or exchange the animal, but he w T ould not hear to it. 

The dumb brute was his friend, his sole companion; they 
had both shared the dangers of battle and the privations of the 
prairie, traveling; why should he part with her? The fame 
of that mare extended so far, that in a trip he made to San 
Francisco, many Mexicans offered him large sums of money; 
nothing, however, could shake him in his resolution. In those 
countries, though horses will often be purchased at the low 
price of one dollar, it often happens that a steed, well-known 
as a good hunter or rapid pacer, will bring sums equal to those 
paid in England for a fine race horse. 

One of the Mexicans, a wild young man, resolved to obtain 
the mare whether or no. One evening, when the Indian was 
returning from some neighboring plantation, the Mexican laid 
down in some bushes a short distance from the road, and 
moaned as if in the greatest pain. The good and kind-hearted 
Indian having reached the spot, heard his cries of distress, 
dismounted from his mare and offered any assistance. It was 
nearly dark, and although he knew the sufferer to be a pale- 



SKETCHES A ND A NE C DOTES. 135 

face, yet he could not distinguish his features. The Mexican 
begged for a drop of water, and the Indian dashed into the 
neighboring thicket to procure it for him. As soon as the 
Indian was sufficiently distant, the Mexican vaulted upon the 
mare, and apostrophised the Indian : 

"You fool of a red-skin, not cunning enough for a Mexican; 
you refused my gold, now I have the mare for nothing, and I 
will make the trappers laugh, when I tell them how easily I 
have outwitted a Shoshone." 

The Indian looked at the Mexican a few moments in silence, 
for his heart was big, and the shameful treachery wounded him 
to the very core. At last he spoke : 

"Pale-face," said he, "for the sake of others I may not kill 
thee. Keep the mare since thou art dishonest enough to steal 
the only property of a poor man; keep her, but never say a 
word how thou earnest by her, lest hereafter a Shoshone, hav- 
ing learned distrust, should not hearken to the voice of grief 
and woe. Away, away with her ! let me never see her again, 
or in an evil hour the desire of vengeance may make a bad 
man of me." 

The Mexican was wild, inconsiderate, and not over scrupu- 
lous, but not without feeling. He dismounted from the horse, 
and putting the bridle into the hands of the Shoshone, he said, 
" Brother, I have done wrong, pardon me ! from an Indian I 
learn virtue; and, for the future, when I would commit any 
deed of injustice, I will think of thee." 



ANECDOTE OF JOHN FLETCHER, OF MADELEY. 



JOHN FLETCHER, the pious vicar of Madeley, near Coal- 
brookdale, in England, on one occasion, on ascending his 
pulpit with the intention of preaching a sermon, which he 
had previously prepared for the purpose, suddenly found that 
he could not remember any part of that sermon, nor even the 
text. He feared he would have to come down without saying 
anything, but gathering his mind into calm collectedness, he 



136 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

remembered the circumstance of the three men of old who 
were cast into the fiery furnace, with the divine preservation 
they witnessed, and he concluded to say something in regard 
to it. In doing so he found, as he afterward related, "such an 
extraordinary assistance from God, and such a singular enlarge- 
ment of heart," that he supposed there must be some peculiar 
cause for it. He therefore desired that if any of the congre- 
gation had met with anything particular, they would acquaint 
him with it. j 

Three days afterward, a female fc of his congregation called 
on him, and gave him the following account, viz: 

" Mrs. K had been for some time much concerned about 

her soul. She attended the church at all opportunities, and 
spent much time in private prayer. At this her husband 
(who was a butcher) was exceedingly enraged, and threatened 
severely what he would do, if she did not leave off going 
to John Fletcher's church — yea, if she dared to go to any 
religious meeting whatever. When she told him she could 
not in conscience refrain from going, he grew quite outra- 
geous, and swore dreadfully that, if she went to any more, he 
would cut her throat as soon as she came home. This made 
her cry mightily to the Lord to support her in the trying hour. 
She determined to go on in her duty and leave the event to 
Him. Last Sunday," continued the informant, "after many 
struggles with the devil and her own heart, she came down- 
stairs ready for church. Her husband asked her whether she 
was resolved to go thither; she told him she was. ' Well then,' 
said he, 'I shall not as I intended, cut your throat; but I will 
heat the oven, and throw you into it the moment you come 
home.' Notwithstanding this threat, which he enforced with 
many bitter oaths, she went, praying all the way that God 
would strengthen her to suffer whatever might befall her. 
While you were speaking of the three Hebrews whom Nebu- 
chadnezzar cast into the burning fiery furnace, she found it all 
belonged to her, and God applied every word to her heart. 
She felt her whole soul so filled with His love, that she hast- 
ened home, fully determined to give herself to whatever the 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 137 

Lord pleased, nothing doubting but that He would take her 
to heaven, if He suffered her to be burned to death, or that 
He would in some way deliver her, even as He did His three 
servants that trusted in Him. But when she opened the door, 
to her astonishment and comfort she found that her husband's 
wrath had abated, and soon had reason to believe that he was 
under a concern for the salvation of his own soul." 

In a few days her husband joined the congregation himself, 
and John Fletcher adds, that he now understood why his 
sermon had been taken from him. 



A DANCE POSTPONED. 



IN Shropshire, England, about one hundred years ago, a 
number of acquaintances and friends had assembled to 
spend a social evening together. In the course of the 
evening they resolved to have a dance, and prevailed on 
Michael Onions, at whose house they were, to go to Brosely, 
some distance away, to procure a fiddler for them. 

On the way he met a stranger, who, having missed the 
road, requested Michael to direct him to Madely. The stran- 
ger ascertained the errand on which Onions was going, and 
began to talk with him about his soul, showing him the unsuit- 
ableness of such follies to a dying man, &c. When the 
stranger left Michael, the serious conversation had so deeply 
impressed him, that he dared not proceed on his errand, but 
returned to his home. When he opened the door, his friends 
inquired, "Have you brought the fiddler?" 

He answered, " No." 

" Is he at home ? Have you been to Brosely ? " 

"No." 

" Why, what is the matter ? you look ill, and are all of a 
tremble." 

Michael then told them that he met somebody, but whether 
a man or an angel he could not tell. He never before heard 
of such a man. He repeated what had been said to him on 



138 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

Spiritual subjects, and added, "I dare not go to Brosely; I 
would not for the world." He became a zealous, devoted, 
and useful Christian. "A word spoken in due season how 
good it is ' " 



SATAN'S RESPONSIBILITY. 



THE late John Thomas, one of the missionary brethren of 
Serampore, was one day addressing a crowd of natives 
on the banks of the Ganges, when he was accosted by 
a Brahmin as follows: 

''Sir, don't you believe that Satan tempts man to sin?" 

" Yes," answered J. Thomas. 

"Then," said the Brahmin, "certainly the fault is Satan's; 
Satan therefore, and not the man, ought to suffer the punish- 
ment." 

While the countenances of many of the natives discovered 
their approbation of the Brahmin's inference, J. Thomas, 
observing a boat with several men on board descending the 
river, with that felicity of instructive retort for which he was 
distinguished, replied: 

" Brahmin, do you see yonder boat ? " 

"Yes." 

" Suppose I was to send some of my friends to destroy every 
person on board, and bring me all that is valuable in the boat, 
who ought to suffer punishment, /, for instructing them, or 
they, for doing this wicked act?" 

"Why," answered the Brahmin, with great emotion, "you 
ought all to be put to death together." 

"Aye, Brahmin," replied J. T., "and if you and Satan sin 
together, Satan and you will be punished together." 

We cannot lay all the blame of our sins on the devil. He 
tempts, we yield. It is not wicked to be tempted, it is wicked 
to yield to temptation. If we invite the devil, he will come. 
We ought to resist him that he may flee. 

" Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye 
may be able to withstand in the evil day." "Be sober, be 



SKE TCHES A ND A NE C DOTES. 139 

vigilant; because the adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, 
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist, 
steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are 
accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the 
God of all grace, who hath called you unto His eternal glory, 
by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you 
perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. To whom be glory 
and dominion forever and ever. Amen." 



THE RUSSIAN TAILOR. 



THE late Richard Knill, a worthy missionary, relates an 
incident in his experience during his residence in St. 
Petersburgh, concerning a Russian tailor, who called on 
him one day. After asking him to sit down, he was handed a 
tract, while Richard left the room for a short time. When he 
returned, he paid the tailor his bill. During some conversa- 
tion which followed, the tailor said he never troubled himself 
about books. A fear being expressed that there was some- 
thing else that he neglected, "Ah ! " said the tailor, I can guess 
what you mean; you think I ought to be religious." He then 
went on to say, that it would be impossible for him to carry 
on his large business if he were religious; that he had thirty 
men employed, and that the first-day of the week was his best 
and busiest day; that he did not at any time attend a place of 
worship, and, from further conversation, it became evident that 
he was in reality an unbeliever. 

He was then asked if he did not believe that there was a 
God. At this the tailor looked angry and said, "God, sir! 
God ! have you ever seen God ? " 

At this Richard was grieved to think how far down a man 
might sink in his iniquity, and replied to him, " I have not seen 
God, but have seen you, and you are one of his works." 

"Very well," said he, "when you meet with any one who 
has seen God, please let me know it." The tailor then took 
his leave and was seen no more by Richard, till he met him at 



140 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

the funeral of the friend who had introduced the tailor to him 
This excellent man had been seized with typhus fever, and 
died. Here Richard saw the Russian tailor with tears rolling- 
down his aged cheeks, appearing deeply affected. Soon he 
began to see him at the place of worship which he attended, 
and was told that he had bought an English Bible, and was 
determined to read it through, to see if what he had been told 
about it was true or not. 

One evening as Richard Knill was sitting in his study, his 
wife entered and said, "There is a^ stranger inquiring for you' 
I think it is the Russian tailor." "So," says Richard, "I 
walked out, and there I saw him." He had brought him a 
new coat as a present, and when pressed to know what had 
induced him to do this, the tailor burst into tears, and said, 
"Ah! sir; if God had not changed my heart, I should never 
have thought of giving you the coat." 

He then gave striking proof that his heart was changed, 
indeed; for, speaking about the men he employed, he seemed 
desirous of advice in regard to what he should do to promote 
their welfare, expressing the anxiety and concern which he felt 
about their souls. It was decided that he should give each 
one a copy of the New Testament. His youth seemed renewed 
like the eagle's. He hurried home, called his men together, 
and said to them, " Can you read ? " 

"Yes, sir," said one, "I read Swedish." 

To another, " Can you read ? " 

" Yes, I read Finnish." 

To a third, " Can you read ? " 

"Yes, sir, I read German." 

To a fourth, " Can you read ? " 

"Yes, sir, I read Russ." 

Having ascertained how many of his people could read, he 
supplied each one with a copy of the New Testament. Nor 
did he stop here ; for, by his inquiry among his men, he also 
found out who could not read. These he supplied with spell- 
ing books, and set those who could read to teaching them, 
being resolved that every man and boy in his employ, who 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 141 

could not read, should be instructed. A great change was 
soon brought about among his employees, and God's saving 
Grace was magnified among them. 



HELP SALLY TO COUNT FORTY. 



TNCLE Ichabod C lived in one of the New England 

\^J States, and was an earnest, active, godly man, who had 
quite a notable way of speaking his mind upon all need- 
ful occasions. 

He was at a meeting one day, where the members were all 
expected to be present, and to make some statement of their 
personal experience, and their religious state. A maiden lady, 
called "Sister Sally," was a member of the church, who used 
to earn her living by spinning stocking yarn for the neighbors, 
for which she was paid so much per knot; a knot being, as 
some of our older readers know, a thread of yarn long enough 
to go forty times around the reel, and which was then knotted, 
or tied around with a thread to keep it separate from the rest. 
Mysteriously, Sally's knots of yarn were said to be very liable 
to lack the requisite number of threads when counted, and this 
kind of mistake, it was said, occurred too frequently, and was 
too commonly in the spinster's favor, to escape the remark of 
those who were deficient in charity. 

The meeting referred to progressed, till at length "Sister 
Sally's" turn came, and she proceeded to relate the story of 
her trials and sorrows, which, unhappily, were very numerous. 
She confessed she did not make the progress she desired, and 
had many temptations and trials, and went through a some- 
what common-place acknowledgment of sins, and expressed a 
desire for the sympathies and prayers of Christian brethren, 
when the monotony was broken by the ringing voice of Uncle 
Ichabod, saying, 

" Lord, help Sister Sally to count forty ! " 

It may reasonably be expected, that if this prayer was 
answered, some of Sally's troubles would diminish, as her 



142 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

threads of yarn increased in number, till they reached the legal 
standard of an honest woman's work. 

Uncle Ichabod is dead, but when listening to persons who 
bewail their sins, and still hide and persist in little cheating 
tricks, and petty meannesses, we are reminded of this prayer, 
and feel that they need the Lord's help "to count forty," or 
fifty, or an hundred, as the case may be, or to do an honest 
day's work, or measure an honest bushel of corn, or an honest 
yard of cloth, or pack an honest barrel of apples or tub of 
butter; and we generally think that a little help from the Lord 
about counting, reckoning, measuring, weighing, trading and 
working, would do more toward driving away "temptations, 
trials and dark hours," from many minds, than a good deal of 
whining and mourning, that is not attended with fruits meet 
for repentance. 



HEAPING COALS OF FIRE. 



NOT many years since, says a "country parson" there was 
a Christian merchant, in Mesopotamia, of great wealth, 
with the right spirit in him. A neighboring trader, 
who did not know much about the Christian merchant, 
published a calumnious pamphlet about him. The Christian 
merchant read it. It was very abusive, wicked and malicious. 
All he said was, that the man who wrote it would be sorry for 
it some day. This was told the libelous trader, who replied 
that he would take care that the Christian merchant should 
never have the chance of hurting him. 

But men in trade cannot always decide who their creditors 
shall be, and in a few months the trader became a bankrupt, 
and the Christian merchant was his chief creditor. The poor 
man sought to make some arrangement that would let him 
work for his children again, but every one told him it was 
impossible without the consent of this creditor. 

"I need not go to him" the poor bankrupt said, "I can 
expect no favor from kim" 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 143 

"Try him," said one who knew the good man better. So 
the bankrupt went to him, and told his sad story of heavy 
losses, and asked his signature to a paper already signed by 
the other creditors. 

"Give me the paper," said this Christian creditor, sitting 
down at his desk. 

It was given him, and the good man, as he glanced over it, 
said, "You wrote a pamphlet against me once;" and without 
waiting for a reply, handed back the paper, having written 
something upon it. The poor bankrupt expected to find 
libeler, or slanderer, or something like that written. But no ! 
There it was, fair and plain, the signature that was needed to 
give him another chance in life. 

"I said you would be sorry for writing that pamphlet," the 
good man went on. " I did not mean it as a threat. I meant 
that some day you would know me better, and see that I did 
not deserve to be attacked in that way. And now tell me all 
about your prospects, and especially tell me how your wife and 
children are faring." 

The poor trader told him that, partly to meet his debts, he 
had given up everything he had in the world, and that for 
many days they had hardly had bread to eat. 

"That will never do," said the Christian merchant, putting 
into the poor man's hand money enough to support the pinched 
wife and children for many weeks. "This will last for awhile, 
and when it is gone you shall have more; and I shall find 
some way to help you, and by God's blessing you will do 
beautifully yet. Don't lose heart, I will stand by you." 

I suppose I need not tell you that the trader's heart over- 
flowed, and he went away crying like a child. To meet evil 
with good, fairly beats the evil and puts it down. The debtor 
was put on his feet again, and the hungry little children were 
fed. The trader never again published an attack on that good 
man as long as he lived, and among the Christian merchant's 
multitude of friends, as he grew old, there was not a truer, 
heartier one than the old enemy thus fairly beaten. "There- 
fore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him 



144 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

drink : for in so doing thou shalt heap coals' of fire upon his 
head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." 
— Rom. 12: 20, 21. 



BEGIN AT MATTHEW. 



A PLEASING story is related of an old colored preacher, 
who knew the Grace of God in truth. There lived in 
his immediate vicinity,^ a respectable man who had 
become interested in the subject of religion, and who had 
begun with some earnestness to search the Scriptures. He 
had read but a few chapters, when he became greatly perplexed 
with some of the passages, which an inspired apostle has 
declared to be " hard to be understood." 

In this state of mind he repaired to our preacher for instruc- 
tion and help, and found him at noon, on a sultry day in sum- 
mer, laboriously engaged in his corn. As the man approached, 
the preacher with patriarchal simplicity, leaned upon the handle 
of his hoe, and listened to his story. " Uncle Jake," said he, 
" I have discovered lately that I am a great sinner, and com- 
menced reading the Bible, that I may learn what I am to do to 
be saved. But I have met with a passage here," holding up 
his Bible, "which I know not what to do with. It is this, 
' God will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy, and 
whom He will He hardeneth.' What does this mean?" 

A short pause intervened, and the old African replied as 
follows: "Master, if I have been rightly informed, it has not 
been but a day or two since you began to read the Bible, and, 
if I remember rightly, the passage you have mentioned is 
away yonder in Romans. Long before you get to that, at the 
very beginning of the Gospel it is said, ' Repent, for the king- 
dom of heaven is at hand.' Now, have you done with that ? 
The truth is you have read entirely too fast. You must begin 
again, and take things as God has pleased to place them. 
When you have done all you are told to do in Matthew, come 
and talk about Romans." 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 145 

Having thus answered, the old preacher resumed his work, 
and left the man to his own reflections. Who does not admire 
the simplicity and good sense of the reply ? 

" The same person to whom this sensible advice was ad- 
dressed," says the writer, "gave me an account of it with his 
own lips. He still lives, and most readily will he testify to its 
strict accuracy, and most joyfully will he now say, as he did to 
me then, 'It convinced me most fully of the mistakes into 
which I had fallen. I took the old man's advice. I soon saw 
its propriety and wisdom, and am thankful for it' " 



A TIRED MOTHER'S VICTORY. 



THE mother had laid her table with great care and pains, 
for a company of distinguished guests, when her little 
girl accidentally overturned a tureen of gravy on the 
snowy cloth. 

" What should I do ? It seemed a drop too much for my 
tired nerves — many drops too much for my tablecloth. I was 
about to jerk my child down angrily from the table, when a 
blessed influence held me. I caught the expression on her 
face — such a sorry, frightened, appealing look I never saw — 
and suddenly a picture of the past came and stood out vividly 
before my mind's eye. My child's face revealed feelings which 
I had experienced twenty years before. 

" I saw myself a little nervous girl, about eight years old, in 
the happy home of my childhood. It was a stormy afternoon. 
It was when coal-oil lamps were first introduced, and my father 
had bought a very handsome one. The snow had drifted up 
against the kitchen window, so, although it was not night, the 
lamp was lighted. Mother was sick in bed up-stairs, and we 
children were gathered together in the kitchen, to keep the 
noise and confusion away from her. 

"I was feeling very important helping get supper; at any 
rate I imagined I was helping, and in my ofrlciousness, I seized 
that lamp and went down into the cellar for some butter. I 

J 



146 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

tried to set it on the hanging-shelf; but alas ! I didn't give it 
room enough, and down it fell on the cemented floor. I never 
shall forget the shock it gave me. I seemed almost paralyzed. 
I didn't dare go up-stairs, and I was afraid to stay down there; 
and, to make it worse, I heard my father's voice in the kitchen. 
He had cautioned us all, again and again, to be careful of the 
lamp ; and now, there it lay, smashed to pieces at my feet ! 

"But his voice seemed to give me the impetus I needed to 
go up and meet the scolding, or whipping, or both, which I 
felt sure awaited me, and which I really felt I deserved. So I 
crept up over the dark stairway, and as I entered the kitchen, 
I met my father with such a stern look on his face, that I was 
frightened. I saw there was no need to tell him. what had 
happened. He had heard the crash, and if he hadn't, I guess 
my face would have told the story. The children stood silently 
around, waiting to see v/hat father would do, and I saw by 
their faces that they were horror-struck; for that lamp had 
been the subject of too much talk and wonder to be smashed 
without a sensation. As for me, I felt so frightened, so con- 
fused and sorry, that I couldn't speak. But upon glancing 
again at my father, I saw the angry look die out of his eyes, 
and one of tenderest pity take its place. 

" I doubt not that he saw the same look in my face then, as 
I saw in my child's face to-day. In a moment he had lifted me 
in his arms, and was hugging me close to his breast. Then he 
whispered, oh! so kindly, 'Never mind, little daughter; we all 
know 'twas an accident, but I hope you will take the small 
lamp when you go down into the cellar again.' 

"Oh, what a revolution of feelings I experienced! It was 
such a surprise to me, that I was suddenly overwhelmed with 
feelings of love and gratitude ; and burying my face, I sobbed 
as if my heart was breaking. No punishment could have 
affected me half so much, and nothing can ever efface the 
memory of it from my mind. 

"How I loved my father to-day, as the sight of my own 
little girl's face brought it all so freshly before me ! 

"Will she love me as dearly, I wonder, twenty years 01* 



SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 147 

more from now, because, moved by the same God-given impulse 
that stirred my father's heart in that long-ago time, I was able 
to press the frightened little thing to my heart, and tell her 
kindly, that I knew she didn't mean to spill the gravy, and that 
I knew she would be more careful another time ? Will she be 
helped by it when she is a mother, as I have been helped 
to-day ? Mother ! rule with Love's sceptre. It is the nearest 
way to the heart." 



THE TOWN CLERK OF EPHESUS. 



COTTON MATHER often used to say, there was one 
mentioned in the nineteenth chapter of Acts, to whom 
he was indebted for some of the best advice he ever 
received, and this was the town-clerk of Ephesus, whose coun- 
sel was to do nothing rashly. 

When any matter of consequence came before Mather for 
judgment or decision, he was accustomed to say, " Let us first 
consult the town-clerk of Ephesus." 

How much trouble and sorrow would be avoided, if more 
people would follow this advice. How many more things 
would be done right the first time, and not have to be done 
over again ; how much less of fretting there would be over 
hasty moves, disastrous results, and irrecoverable opportunities ; 
and how much more of joy, and safety, and rest, in the assur- 
ance that we deliberated well, weighed consequences, waited 
the leadings of the Lord's Spirit, and followed the openings of 
his Providence. 

The hardest lesson of many a life, is waiting. It is easy 
enough to hurry when all the world is hurrying, and to make 
quick resolves, rash promises, and unpremeditated assertions, 
but to pause, while the swift current is sweeping by on either 
side, to think, and wait and pray, and to listen for the "still 
small voice" of the Holy Spirit, which whispers to the truly 
listening Christian ear, "He that believeth shall not make 
haste," is no easy task. 



148 SKETCHES AND ANECDOTES. 

Some people are strongly inclined to run before they are 
sent; and if the Lord left them to themselves, ruin would soon 
terminate their course. But in mercy He restrains our ways. 
He shuts us up, and hedges us about many times, till the 
lesson is learned which he would teach us: to be quiet, and 
to know moderation; to be slow in speech, calm in thought, 
and temperate in action. How many a heart can say with 
Rosetti : 

"I would have gone, God bade me stay; 

I would have worked, He bade me rest; 
He broke my will from day to day, 

He read my yearnings unexpressed, 
And said them nay," 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 



PROVIDENCE DIRECTING. 



OUR Heavenly Father sometimes restrains His children 
from running into dangers, to them unforeseen; some- 
times He preserves them in the midst and through the 
dangers, and at others He permits the accidents, as they are 
termed, to open a speedy entrance for them into His eternal 
rest. To those who are faithful to known duties, and who are 
found constantly waiting on the dear Master, for His counsel, 
He more frequently manifests a restraining, directing guidance. 
To such, a little uneasiness of mind, a slight pointing of the 
finger of Truth, seems sufficient to cause them to move in 
the path of safety. In some other cases, it seems as if the 
parties were constrained to be prepared to escape unseen dan- 
gers. The night when the ship Amazon was consumed by 
fire, Blood, on retiring to rest, felt himself restrained from 
undressing. He could not tell why, but when, on the sudden 
alarm of the burning ship, he found that his being dressed, 
when it was given, was the occasion of his being preserved, he 
could but feel that the hand of his Merciful Creator was in it. 
Many instances of a similar character might be adduced. 

An instance of safety arising from the inward pointing of 
duty, occurred in the experience of C. G. Steinhofer. Early 
in the spring, after his winter sojourn in the West, as he was 
on his way toward Philadelphia, he stopped at a tavern on the 
bank of the upper waters of the Susquehanna river. His feet 



150 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

were still very tender, and to save them, he concluded to go 
by water as far as Harrisburg. On inquiring about a boat, the 
inn-keeper told him that one would soon come by. Christian 
then asked for some bread and milk. The food had scarcely 
been brought to him when he was told that he must hurry, for 
the boat was in sight. The landlord shouted to him, " Hurry, 
hurry ! " Christian felt that something within him said, " Eat 
thy bread and milk; do not go before." Some of those stand- 
ing by said, " If you do not start, the boat will leave you ; it is 
shoving off." Christian seemed riveted to the spot, and when 
the landlord, losing his patience, called him a "foolish Dutch- 
man," he quietly replied, "Well, I know I am often foolish in 
the eyes of people, but I reckon it is all right." Whilst still 
talking, a loud cry was heard, which caused them all to run to 
the river. The water was very high, owing to the snow melt- 
ing on the mountains, and the boat, as it was swept down upon 
it, struck a snag hidden from sight, and was capsized. Of 
three men who were upon it, two were drowned, and the other 
was only saved by swimming. The landlord, struck by the 
preservation which Christian had witnessed, turned to him and 
said, "Why, you must be under particular protection." Chris- 
tian, disclaiming anything special as afforded to him, said, 
"All are, if they call for protection." 

An instance of Divine Providence interfering for the preser- 
vation of a little child, may be given from the experience of 
Christian. When residing in Tioga county, Pennsylvania, with 
his family, he was one day in the woods, at the distance of 
half a mile from his own house, gathering blossoms from a 
wild-cherry tree, to use in his medicinal practice. Whilst in 
a tree he heard, as he thought, his wife plainly calling, "Stein- 
hofer ! " and again, as if in distress, " Steinhofer ! " Descending 
the tree, he started across the field, taking the nearest way to 
his house. On his passage he again thought he heard the cry, 
"Steinhofer!" but this time it seemed to come from the public 
road. Hastening thither, he saw, as soon as he emerged from 
the thicket skirting the road, his little girl, not then three years 
of age, going as fast as she could into the woods on the other 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 151 

side of the road. There, if she had entered, she might have 
wandered until her life terminated, for there were but few set- 
tlements then in that part of Tioga. When he asked her 
where she was going, her answer was, " Hunt the sheep, hunt 
sheep !" 

Christian took her home, and on arriving there, he found 
that no one had called him, and that the little sheep hunter 
had not been missed. 

Christian Gotlieb Steinhofer would at times find it right for 
him to narrate to his children, some of the many instances he 
had met with in his life, of Divine guidance and preservation. 
This he believed might have a tendency to encourage them, to 
trust to and wait for the same blessed influence and direction 
he had mercifully experienced. When asked, however, to 
commit the incidents of his life, of this sort, to paper, he 
declined, on the ground that his children might unduly pride 
themselves, as though he were better than others. This, he 
said, he wished them to know was not the case. He was. not 
what he ought to have been, but that he had experienced 
much mercy and Divine protection. The best history of his 
life that could be written, would be his children walking in the 
ways and according to the direction of the Lord. 



A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE. 



THE following narrative, illustrative of the doctrine of a 
particular Providence, was related by one of the individ- 
uals most deeply concerned in it to the writer, who sent 
a copy of it to a Friend under great trial, by whom it was 
many times acknowledged, that much instruction and encour- 
agement had been derived from the narrative. 

A young man and woman residing at Exeter, the children 
of parents, on both sides, who had acquired considerable 
property by success in commerce, had married and taken off 
by purchase a long-established and lucrative business, with the 
fortune given to each by their parents. With the ardor of 



152 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

youth, and a smiling future before them, the young man pur- 
chased a large quantity of goods to refresh, he said, the old 
stock of his predecessor in business, and for a short time, 
matters seemed to progress very comfortably with the young 
beginners; but as matters were a little more closely looked 
into, the young man seemed suddenly to awake to the reality, 
that ^"1,000 must be paid in a given time, for the goods he 
had ordered to refresh his stock. He spoke to his young wife 
about it, and she made light of his uneasiness, saying playfully 
to him, " There are three months yet unexpired of the time 
when you must be prepared; we are sure to have enough by 
that time, and do not be anxious; and if we are not prepared, 
we have only to go to our parents, they will help us." Her 
husband's reply alarmed her: "They are the last persons in 
the world we must apply to ; if we reveal to them our position, 
we shall forever be regarded by them as fools, utterly incapable 
of managing our temporal concerns with discretion; no, no, 
dear Jane, breathe not a word either to your parents or to 
mine." 

A time of increasing anxiety ensued as time wore on; 
various plans were proposed and tried to effect a loan of 
money to cancel the debt, but a very small part only was 
realized by them to meet the inevitable demand that was 
approaching. Every avenue of help seemed closed, one friend 
after another excusing himself from helping them in their 
great emergency and trial ; all failed. 

On the morning of the day when the expected call would 
be made, the young wife proposed to her husband to try 
one other friend, residing in the same city as themselves ; he 
agreed to go, and asked his wife to keep the warehouse while 
he went on this painful errand. She agreed to do so, but 
begged for a short absence up-stairs, which her husband 
granted. Having entered her bed-room, "she shut the door," 
and locked herself in; throwing herself beside her bed in the 
attitude of prayer, she poured forth a supplication to God, 
whom she knew hitherto as a God afar off, something on this 
wise, " Oh, my Heavenly Father, I bow before thee in an agony 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 153 

of prayer, to beseech thee to look down upon us, my husband 
and myself, in this great extremity; open some door of relief 
or succor for us; thou knowest, oh, thou great Searcher of 
hearts, that we would not wrong any mortal, that our present 
errors are those of want of judgment, not intention, and there- 
fore, I beseech thee, send us help from some quarter." She 
rose from her knees, descended the stairs, appeared before her 
husband calmer than she had left him, wished him in an affec- 
tionate tone a successful issue, and, as he left the door, took 
her seat at her husband's desk, relieved by having appealed in 
reverence, confidence, and humility to her Heavenly Father as 
her best, her truest friend. 

Her husband had not been gone above ten minutes, when a 
gentleman known to them both, stepped in and said, " Is Mr. 
K. at home ? " She answered, " He is not within now, but will 
shortly be here." "Oh, very well, I will look in again." He 
left without telling his business; quickly returning to her, he 
said, "Mrs. K., you will do just as well as Mr. K.; my call 
upon you was to say, that I was thinking of you, that as young 
people beginning the world, a little money might not be unac- 
ceptable to you for a year or so ; in this roll in my hand you 
will find in bank notes .£1,000; take it for a year without 
interest, and just give me on a slip of paper an acknowledg- 
ment of its receipt." She took the money from him, and 
either wrote the acknowledgment, or said her husband would 
give it to him. He pleasantly took his leave; the young wife 
laid her head on the desk and wept bitterly, overpowered by 
the goodness of her Heavenly Father in the prompt, almost 
immediate answer of her prayer for succor. In this state her 
husband found her when he returned to her; his errand had 
been unsuccessful; he simply said, "You may well weep, we 
are ruined." She bade him sit down beside her, and remain 
quiet until she should recover herself sufficiently to speak to 
him; he did so, and when she revealed to him the whole truth, 
he was so overwhelmed that he went away from her to be 
alone. "From that day to this," she said to me, "we have 
never been in any degree pinched in our finances, we have 



154 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

never for a moment doubted the particular Providences of 
God, and we endeavor to act uprightly in His holy sight. It 
is now, I- believe," she continued, "forty years since the inci- 
dent I have related to you happened; you must excuse my 
emotion (for she wept much while relating the above particu- 
lars), for I can never recur to it without the deepest emotion." 
She further said, "I rejoice I have found a friend in you, who 
believes as fully in a particular Providence as I do myself." 

She was known to be a woman of the strictest integrity and 
high moral tone, in all her transactions acting from an inward 
and perceptible guidance, and she lived to an old age. I heard 
no particulars of her closing moments; but her narrative has 
often strengthened and refreshed me in moments when faith 
was less, if possible, than a grain of mustard seed; and, oh! 
may its recital here reassure thee, my widowed friend, "that a 
judge of the widow is God, in His holy habitation, as well as 
a father to the fatherless." I would affectionately encourage 
each of you, the mother and her children, to trust in the 
Lord your God; to know Him as your Husband and Father, 
through the appointed medium Christ Jesus, and the Holy 
Spirit, by whom only we can say, "Abba, Father," or call Jesus 
"Lord." Through the Holy Spirit we know saving truths, 
and through the one same blessed medium we progress in 
the divine life, and are made heirs of God and joint heirs with 
Christ, knowing a passing from death unto life, and from the 
power of Satan unto God — to whom be all glory ascribed. 



A REMARKABLE DELIVERANCE. 



" God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." — Ps. 46 : 1. 

\ BOVE a century ago, in a sequestered part of Scotland, a 
_/~\_ hard-working couple were struggling through life, and 
frequently found it difficult to gain a bare subsistence, 
or to provide even necessaries for their young family. But 
though their lot was cast among the poor of this world, they 
were honest. They lived in a thinly peopled neighborhood, 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 155 

remote from town or village, and indeed, at a considerable 
distance from any habitation whatever. The poor man could 
generally contrive to earn a scanty subsistence, barely sufficient 
to maintain his wife and four children. At times, indeed, his 
means of support were cut off; for, though industrious when 
he could procure work, his employment at best was preca- 
rious. Sometimes this worthy couple were reduced to great 
necessity for want of food, when they experienced unexpected 
interpositions of Providence, by which help was sent to them 
in the most unlooked-for manner. Thus God often reveals 
himself to his chosen ones, and in time of their need proves 
that He is "a very present help in trouble." 

At some miles' distance from this humble cottage, was the 
residence of an excellent Christian lady — Lady Kilmarnock, 
who devoted her time and fortune to doing good, and was 
indeed a blessing to those around her. These worthy cot- 
tagers had, of course, been frequent objects of her bounty, 
and through her aid they had often obtained seasonable relief 
But, though Ann Young — for that was the former name of 
the cottager's wife, by which she was still known in the neigh- 
borhood — had formerly been a servant in her family, yet such 
was her repugnance to appearing burdensome to her benefac- 
tress, that it was seldom indeed that, when in want, her distress 
was made known by herself. 

On one occasion these poor people were reduced to the 
greatest extremity of want. Their little store of provisions 
gradually diminished, till they were exhausted. Her children 
had received the last morsel she could furnish, yet she was 
not cast down; for Ann Young was a Christian. She had 
learned to trust in the loving-kindness of her God, when 
apparently cut off from human aid; and having found by 
experience, that man's extremity is God's opportunity, she did 
not despond. Night came at last, and still no relief was 
vouchsafed to them. The children were crying for their sup- 
per; and because there was none to give them, their mother 
undressed them and put them to bed, where they soon cried 
themselves to sleep. Their father was much dejected and like- 



156 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

wise went to bed, leaving Ann in solitary possession of the 
room. And yet she was not alone. Many sweet hours had 
she spent in that little cottage, apart from the world, with her 
Bible and her God. Precious had these opportunities ever 
been to her of pouring out her soul to God — of spreading her 
sorrows, her trials, all before Him, and giving vent to a full, 
and now, alas ! a heavy heart. 

Having seen her children safely at rest, she made up the 
peat fire on the hearth, that she might not afterward be dis- 
turbed for the night. She then trimmed and lit the lamp, and 
hung it upon its accustomed place on the wall, and moved the 
clean, oaken table near it; and, having taken a large family 
Bible from the book-shelf, she deposited it upon it. She 
paused, however, before opening the sacred volume, to implore 
a blessing on its contents, when the following text involunta- 
rily came into her mind: "For every beast of the forest is 
mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." 

The text, thought Ann, is not very applicable to my present 
condition ; and opening her Bible, she proceeded to look out 
some of her favorite passages of Scripture. Yet " For every 
beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand 
hills," was uppermost in her thoughts. She knelt down and 
committed her case to the hearer and answerer of prayer; and 
then she tried to recall former experiences, to bring to remem- 
brance the promises of God, and those portions of the Scrip- 
ture which used to come home with power to her heart, but 
without now feeling that lively pleasure and satisfaction she 
had ever found in the Bible. The text " For every beast of 
the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills," 
seemed fastened to her memory; she could not banish it from 
her mind. Yet, thought Ann, it is God's own word; and she 
read the fiftieth Psalm, in which the text is contained. It was, 
she thought, a beautiful Psalm, but many verses in it appeared 
to her more suited to her condition than this one. Again she 
prayed, hoping that, while presenting her supplication before 
the throne of Grace, she might forget it; but with no better 
success. Still she endeavored to encourage her drooping heart 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 157 

with the belief, nay, God's blessed assurance, of the efficacy of 
earnest, persevering prayer, and continued her occupation, 
alternately supplicating in prayer and reading her Bible, until 
midnight. Indeed, early dawn found her engaged at this same 
employment. At length daylight appeared through the little 
casement, and a loud impatient rap was heard at the door. 

"Who's there?" said Ann. 

A voice from without answered, "A friend." 

"But who is a friend?" she replied. "What are you ?" 

"I'm a drover; and quick, mistress, and open the door and 
come out and help me. And if there's a man in the house, 
tell him also to come out, for one of my cattle has fallen down 
a precipice and broken its leg, and is lying 2X your door!' 

On opening the door, what was the first object that met the 
gaze of Ann ? A large drove of cattle, from the Highlands of 
Scotland. As far as the eye could reach in either direction, 
the road was black with the moving mass, which the man was 
driving on to the market in the South. And there lay the 
disabled beast, its leg broken, the poor drover standing by, 
looking ruefully over it; his faithful dog by his side, gazed up 
as if in sympathy with his master, and as if he understood his 
dilemma, and knew also, that his services could now be of no 
avail. 

The worthy couple were concerned for the poor drover, and 
evinced their willingness to assist him in his misfortune, had it 
been in their power. He, in his turn, felt at a loss to know 
how he should dispose of the animal, and paused to consider 
what course he ought to pursue. But the more he thought, 
the more his perplexity increased. To drive the maimed beast 
was obviously impossible. To sell it there, seemed equally so. 
What was to be done ? The drover drew his Highland plaid 
closer around him. He shifted and replaced his bonnet from 
one side of his head to the other. 

"I never," he at length exclaimed, "was more completely 
brought to my wit's end in my life;" and then turning to Ann, 
he added, "'Deed, mistress, I must just make you a present 
of it, for in truth I don't know what else I can do with it; so 



3 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 



kill it and take care of it, for it is a fine beast. I'll answer 
for it, a mart like that has never come within your door." 
And without waiting for thanks, he whistled on his dog and 
joined the herd, which was soon seen moving slowly on its 
weary journey. 

The poor cottagers were lost in wonder at this unexpected 
deliverance from famine, by so signal an interposition of Provi- 
dence. After they had in some measure recovered from the 
surprise, such an incident was calculated to excite, the father 
assembled his little family around him to unite in prayer, and 
to give thanks to the " Giver of all good," for this new proof 
of His condescending kindness toward them. Thus their 
prayer was turned into praise. All was now rejoicing, prepa- 
ration and gladness. They had meat sufficient to serve them 
for many months to come, and in their first joy, they totally 
forgot that they had no bread. But He who " commanded the 
ravens" to bring to the prophet "bread and flesh" did not 
forget it. God does not work by halves. About six o'clock 
in the morning, another knock was heard at the door, which 
this time flew quickly open, when who should present himself 
but the bailiff of Lady Kilmarnock, with a load on his back. 
He then proceeded to relate how Lady Kilmarnock sent for 
him the day previous to inquire if anything had happened to 
Ann Young; to which he replied, that he was not aware 
that she had met with any calamity, and that when he last 
heard of her family, they were all well. "Then," said her lady- 
ship, "she must be in want, for these few days she has been 
incessantly in my thoughts. / cannot get her out of my head, 
and I am sure she is in distress. So take a sack of meal to 
her — a large one, too, and take it directly. You had better 
convey it yourself, that it may be safely delivered to her; and 
bring me word how she is, for I know she would almost starve 
before she w r ould apply for relief." 

Thus were these pious cottagers, by a wonderful interference 
of Providence, amply provided for; and Ann Young found out 
ivhy that passage of Scripture had been so impressed upon her 
mind, and learned to understand, more fully than she did 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 159 

before, the meaning of that old, and yet new, and true and 
ever faithful word of God, "Every beast of the forest is mine, 
and the cattle upon a thousand hills /" 



A MERCHANT SAVED FROM BANKRUPTCY. 



THE following is a striking illustration of the ways of 
Providence in the affairs of men. It occurred during 
the severe monetary pressure of 1858; and should 
encourage all hearts to commit to God their temporal interests. 

"The heaviest and most important engagements of my busi- 
ness life were maturing in the month of July. I had made 
them the subject of earnest prayer to God, and felt myself to 
be in His hands, and at the disposal of His goodness. I laid, 
in due time, before the Board of Directors of our bank, for 
discounting, real negotiable paper, in amount about fifty per 
cent, more than my payments coming due. This resource had , 
never before failed me, but owing to some peculiar circum- 
stances surrounding the bank at that time, no paper was dis- 
counted. I then became not a little distressed in mind, but 
continued to carry the matter before the Lord regularly in all 
my private devotions. Bankruptcy and ruin stared me in the 
face. 

" What apparently added much to my difficulties, I was com- 
pelled to leave home and attend court in an adjoining county, 
only a few days prior to the maturity of two of the heaviest 
notes. I went, trusting in God for deliverance; all other hope 
had fled. I remained from Monday morning until Thursday 
afternoon. On Friday the notes above referred to must be 
paid or be protested. I returned home, pledging myself to be 
back in time to answer the call of my name the next morning 
at nine o'clock. On reaching home, after speaking a few 
minutes with my wife and children, I shut myself up in my 
room and poured out the agony of my mind before the Lord. 
I then repaired to my place of business, but learned my 
receipts were even less than usual for the same space of time. 



160 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

I returned home for supper, and at the family altar had liberty 
in prayer. Immediately after tea I repaired to my closet; the 
Lord was with me, my soul was made happy, and I felt per- 
fectly resigned to the will of God, be my fate what it might. 
I still felt it to be my duty to use every possible effort to 
secure the money. I set out on this endeavor, confidently 
believing that relief would come, though I knew not how. 
Up to nine o'clock in the evening every effort had been 
unavailing. I was passing along the street on my return from 
the last place at which I had^ hoped to secure some money, 
when a gentleman touched me on the shoulder, and familiarly 
calling my name, said he wished to speak to me. We stepped 
aside, and he said, ' I stopped you to say, that if you are in 
want of some money, I can accommodate you.' Here was the 
deliverance I had looked for; my heart was too full to say 
more than ' I thank you, sir.' All the necessary arrangements 
were made for the payment of my notes, and I went home 
with a heart overflowing with gratitude to God." 

A remarkable feature in the above case is, that no applica- 
tion had been made to the person who proffered this relief, but, 
as he expressed it, he felt himself moved to make the offer. 



INSTRUCTIVE INCIDENTS. 



THERE are many testimonies to the watchful care of our 
Heavenly Father, and many proofs that His ear is open 
to the cries and prayers of His people, who look to Him 
in the day of distress, even as to outward things. The ancient 
declaration, "This poor man cried and the Lord heard him, 
and saved him out of all his troubles," is applicable to many 
in the present day. Not long since, at a meeting in New York, 
a man arose and said : 

" Yesterday forenoon a man came to my office and paid me 
forty dollars in bills, which I took and put in my pocket 
instead of the drawer. When I was making up my account 
for deposit in the bank in the afternoon, I put my hand into 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 161 

my pocket, to take those bills to put with the other deposits, 
but something suggested to my mind to leave those bills in 
my pocket, and I did so, without thinking of any good reason 
why I should do so. This morning, on my way to my store, 
I came past the store of a friend, and an impulse seized me on 
the instant to go in and see him. I went in and met him in 
his front store, and without any knowledge on my part that he 
wanted money, I said to him, 'George, would you like to 
borrow forty dollars this morning ? ' Said he, ' Come into the 
counting-room, I have something to say to you.' We went in 
there, and my friend continued, 'Yesterday, in looking over 
my bills payable, I found I had a note coming due to-day for 
one hundred and fifty dollars. I went home and told my wife 
that I could not raise that sum, and between us we raised one 
hundred and ten dollars, but where tp get another dollar we 
did not know. So we both knelt down, and earnestly prayed, 
that God would in his own way send help to avert the impend- 
ing calamity; and we prayed again this morning for the needed 
deliverance. I came to my store trusting in God, and I had 
no sooner got here than you came in and volunteered to lend 
me the exact sum I needed, Why, to my mind, this is an 
absolute demonstration that God not only hears but answers 
prayer. To His name be all the glory.' " 

On another occasion the following incident was related: "A 
friend in business in this city told me a few days ago of an 
answer to prayer in his case. Said he : * I had certain bills to 
meet, and tried every resource I had, but could not get the 
money. As the time approached, and my ability to meet the 
obligations seemed out of the question, I went to God in my 
troubles, and poured out my soul in earnest prayer to Him to 
send me help. The morning of the day when my obligation 
became due arrived, but the help had not come. I went to my 
store, and soon after a gentleman came in whom I had known 
for some years, but not intimately. He greeted me kindly, 
and then asked after my business, and if I had plenty of funds, 
&c. I frankly told him the truth, and that I was quite short 
of funds for that day. He asked me how much I needed, and 

K 



1 62 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

I told him. Without another word, he drew a blank check 
from his pocket, and filled it out for the sum I had named, and 
handed it to me, saying I could repay it when I became easy 
aeain.'" 



A PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERANCE. 



CANON FLEMING, Vicar of St. Michael's, Chester-square, 
in a contribution to The 'Day of Days, tells the following 
striking anecdote, which was told to him by an old man, 
who showed to him the lock of hair referred to: "I was a 
little child of four years old, with long curly locks, which in 
sun or wind or rain hung down my cheeks. One day my 
father went into the woods to cut up a log, and I w T ent with 
him. I was standing a little way behind him, or rather at his 
side, watching the strokes of the heavy axe, as it went up and 
down upon the wood, sending splinters off in all directions. 
A large splinter fell at my feet, and I eagerly stooped to pick 
it up. In doing so I stumbled forward, and in a moment my 
curly head lay upon the log. I had fallen forward just at the 
moment the axe was descending with all its force. It was too 
late to stay the blow. Down it came. I screamed, and my 
father fell to the ground in terror. In the blindness which the 
sudden horror caused, he thought he had killed his own son. 
We soon recovered — I from my fright, and he from his terror. 
He caught me in his arms — then looked at me from head to 
foot, to find out the deadly wound which he was sure he must 
have inflicted. Not a drop of blood — not a scar to be seen. 
He fell on his knees on the grass and gave thanks to God. 
Having done this, he took up the axe and found a few hairs 
glittering on its edge. He turned to the log, and there was a 
single curl of his boy's hair, cut clean through, and lying upon 
the wood. What an escape ! It was as if an angel of mercy 
had turned aside the edge at the moment it was descending 
on my head. With renewed thanks to God he took up the 
curl and carried me home in his arms. That lock of hair he 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 163 

kept all his remaining life as a memorial of God's care and 
love. That lock he left to me on his death-bed. It always 
rebukes unbelief and dispels alarm. It bids me trust Him 
forever. I have had many tokens of Fatherly love in my life, 
but somehow this speaks most to my heart, It used to speak 
to my father's heart: it still speaks to mine!" 



A COLLISION AVERTED. 



A CORRESPONDENT of the Hartford Times writes as 
follows: I met William D. Hilton, of Providence, the 
other day. He used to be superintendent of the Prov- 
idence and Worcester railroad, and he told me some rather 
odd experiences of his own, which he gave me free permission, 
to publish. I give you, as exactly as is possible, a transcript 
of this rather extraordinary conversation. 

"I think the most remarkable instance of supernatural in.ter-' 
ference for the benefit of humanity, of which I have personal 
knowledge," said W. D. Hilton, "occurred when I was in the 
freight department of the Providence and Worcester railroad. 
As the tracks entered the depot here, some few rods up the 
road, there was a combination of switches, which, if covered 
by a standing train, could not be rearranged, so that a down 
train would, unless signalled to stop, inevitably rush directly 
on whatever stood in the way. One night the freight train, 
which always arrived in time to make its changes and get out 
of the way before the Shore Line express should arrive, was 
late. There were but twenty-five minutes to make all arrange- 
ments and clear the track. This was no unusual occurrence; 
and as the signal red-light at the mast head was up_ and 
brightly burning, there was no apparent danger of anything to 
produce the slightest nervousness. The delays very frequently 
occurred and were thus provided for by the signal. I remem- 
ber very distinctly, however, that on this occasion I walked out 
to the very end of the depot platform, and that I suddenly 
heard in my ear these words, twice repeated, and with impres- 



1 64 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

sive distinctness : ' Hilton, the light will go out ! Hilton, the 
light will go out ! ' 

"The sound was so positive, and struck me with such 
strange power, that I instantly looked at my watch, saw that 
the Shore Line express was due in three minutes, grabbed the 
red lantern on the last car of the freight train, and ran up the 
track with all the speed of which I was capable. Along I 
fairly flew, impelled by some strange intuition that there was 
danger, and never questioning for an instant, as I ran, why I 
was running, or what I was tor do. Arriving at the first end 
of the curve near the Corliss Engine Works, I stopped, and 
for an instant turned and looked back at the red-light. It was 
burning, but in a second it fluttered a little and suddenly went 
out. A world of emotions then seemed to rush through my 
mind, for the light of the on-coming express already illumina- 
ted the rails. I swung my lantern round and round, shouted 
and danced up and down in my terrible anxiety. It seemed a 
thousand years before I heard the whistle for 'down brakes.' 
The fate of the crowded train, the horrible telescoping of the 
cars as they would inevitably crush into that solid freight 
train, seemed to rise like- a vision of Hades before me. But at 
last the engine was stopped. Without indicating to him his 
previous danger, I informed the engineer that the signal had 
gone out, and that I was stationed to warn him, and started 
back to the depot. When I got to the switch, I found the 
switch-man running round and round it, almost mad with 
terror, for he could not light the treacherous lantern, and had 
anticipated a most horrible disaster. When he saw me and 
heard that all was safe, he put his arms about my neck, and 
he — well, he cried like a child, and I believe I offered up a 
prayer of praise and thanksgiving. I immediately established 
a series of three lights as signals, so that nothing of the kind 
could possibly occur again. 

"We examined the light, and could see no possible reason 
why it should have gone out. It was full of oil, with a perfect 
wick, and there was no wind blowing, although, if there had 
been, it should have remained burning, as it had through many 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 165 

a storm. Now, what was it that spoke in my ear ? What was 
it that forced me to save that train ? There were ordinarily 
but two passenger cars on the express, and this night there 
were seven, all full." 



PROVIDENCE AND POTATOES. 



IT IS a blessed thing to trust in the good Providence of 
God, but those who trust the most implicitly, also work 
the most faithfully. God giveth the increase; but Paul 
must not leave off planting, nor Apollo s watering, on that 
account; they can do all this, and then have plenty left to 
trust in God for. 

The man who trusts in God to do what the Lord has told 
him to do for himself, will find that there is some misunder- 
standing about matters somewhere. Faith and works should 
ever go together, and he who does his best is quite as trustful, 
as he who is less faithful over the few things committed to 
him. 

It is related that the celebrated Welsh preacher, Christmas 
Evans, was once discussing the potato question with his thrifty, 
diligent wife, and perhaps in a playful, but still in a character- 
istic way, said to her: 

"Catherine, you never mind the potatoes; put your trust in 
Providence and all will be well." 

"I tell you what we'll do, Christmas," replied Catherine; 
"you go and sit down on the top of Moelly Gest, waiting for 
Providence, and I'll go and hoe the potatoes ; and we shall see 
to which of us Providence will come first I" 

Noah, Abraham, Moses, Gideon, David, Elisha, Daniel, 
Paul, Peter, Matthew, John, James, and others whom the Lord 
chose, honored, and blessed, were very busy, active men, and 
were, in most instances, called to the work of God when busily 
engaged in secular pursuits : — keeping sheep, threshing wheat, 
plowing the fields, guiding the State, receiving taxes, catching 
fish, mending nets, and such like active and useful occupations. 



1 66 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

From the midst of these labors they were called to deliver 
nations, lead armies, utter prophecies, and save men. 

We should have to look long before we could find an 
elegant " gentleman of leisure" on the staff of the Captain of 
our Salvation. Paul, to be sure, was an educated man, but he 
was also a tent-maker, and was full of restless energy, perse- 
cuting the saints even to strange cities, when the Lord called 
him to His work. 

Pray much, but work with all your might. "Trust in the 
Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily 
thou shalt be fed!' 



ANECDOTES OF QUINCEY MAYNARD. 



THE facts I am about to relate are of unquestioned authen- 
ticity, and derived by myself and others from his own 
lips. On one occasion, in the depth of winter, himself 
and family were found with their small stock of wood, laid up 
for their comfort, almost wholly exhausted; scarce enough 
wood for the support and comfort of his tried ones; as under 
similar circumstances, his prayer was upon the altar, and left 
with his Father in heaven. He retired to bed at night, not 
knowing how, but confident of the fact, that God's immutable 
will would be fidfilled. Ere the morning light had entirely 
dispelled the darkness of night, a load of wood was dropped 
at his door, through the direction of some kind but unknown 
friend. "How mysterious are the ways of God; past finding 
out!" 

On another occasion, being exceedingly pressed in his 
circumstances, and needing; funds to meet his immediate neces- 
sities, his mind became so much exercised that he felt himself, 
for the time, wholly disqualified for the work in which he was 
engaged. Laying aside the tool in his hand ( he was a machin- 
ist) he walked to the door of his shop. After being there a 
few minutes, he was accosted by an old and feeble colored 
man, who inquired of him, whether he knew him. Maynard 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 167 

replied, that he did not remember having seen him before. 
The colored man made such statements as caused him very 
soon to recollect him. The sequel proved that several years 
before this interview he had done some work for the old man, 
for which he had never been paid. He assured him that he 
had not met this claim, because it had been out of his power. 
His family had been called to pass through a series of pro- 
tracted afflictions. His wife had died; and, subsequently, he 
had been ill, and because of his necessitous condition, was 
compelled to seek an asylum in the almshouse. Since his 
recovery and dismissal he had been diligently engaged in 
labor, and by great economy had succeeded in saving enough 
to liquidate the debt, for which purpose he had called. 

Once more — At a season of great depression, a gentleman, 
who knew him favorably and esteemed him highly, loaned him 
a sum of money. This he was unable to return, although con- 
siderable time had elapsed since the reception of the favor. 
His mind became painfully exercised lest the gentleman should 
lose confidence in him. One morning, after partaking of a 
scanty meal, and unable to perceive any opening by which 
more could be obtained to meet the pressing wants of his 
family, he left his humble dwelling for his shop. On his way 
thitherward he was necessarily obliged to pass the store of his 
friend. Before reaching it, he saw him standing in his door- 
way. Fearing lest he should be asked for what was justly due, 
and thus be placed under the painful necessity of soliciting 
further indulgence, he crossed the street to avoid him. On 
coming to a point opposite where the gentleman was standing, 
he was called by him. He obeyed the summons, persuaded 
that he was about to realize the fulfillment of his worst fears. 
As he approached him, his friend extended his hand toward 
him in a most friendly manner, and kindly inquired as to the 
state of his health, and that of his family. He then said, 
"Mr. Maynard, I called you because I have this morning been 
strangely and strongly impressed that you were at this time in 
actual need. Here are ten dollars, which you will do me the 
personal favor to receive, and appropriate to your own benefit, 



168 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

in such way as you may deem most proper." As might be 
expected, an interposition of Divine Providence, so clear and 
decided as this, caused his heart to leap within him with joy 
and gratitude, and he "went on his way rejoicing." 



SUCCORED FROM DISTRESS. 



THE following narration which appears in a London jour- 
nal seems to be authentic r and is interesting and valuable, 
showing as it does, the importance of yielding to the 
impressions of duty, which are often made upon the human 
mind, quite independently of any operations of its own powers. 
The date of the occurrence is not given, but as it took place 
before the Island of Ascension had any inhabitants, we cannot 
consider it recent. The island belongs to Great Britain, and is 
situated about 280 miles N. W. of St. Helena. 

Admiral Thomas Williams, a straight-forward and excellent 
man, was in command of a ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean. 
His course brought him in sight of the Island of Ascension, 
at that time uninhabited, and never visited by any ship except 
for the purpose of collecting turtles, which abound on the 
coast. The Island was barely descried on the horizon, and 
was not to be noticed at all; but as Thomas looked at it, he 
was seized by an unaccountable desire to steer toward it. 

He felt how strange such a wish would appear to his crew, 
and tried to disregard it, but in vain. His desire became more 
and more urgent and distressing, and foreseeing that it would 
soon be more difficult to gratify it, he told his lieutenant to 
prepare to "put about ship," and steer for Ascension. The 
officer to whom he spoke ventured to respectfully represent 
that changing their course would greatly delay them — that just 
at that moment the men were going to their dinner — that, at 
least, some delay might be allowed. 

But these arguments seemed to increase Admiral Williams' 
anxiety, and the ship was steered toward the uninteresting 
little island. All eyes and spy-glasses were now fixed upon it, 



PARTICULAR PROVIDEXCES. 169 

and soon something was perceived on the shore. " It is white 
— it is a flag — it must be a signal!" When they neared the 
shore, it was ascertained that sixteen men, wrecked on that 
coast many days before, and suffering the extremity of hunger, 

had set up a signal, though almost without hope of relief. 



PROVIDENTIALLY DIRECTED SERMONS. 



IT IS recorded that a clergyman, who had prepared with 
more than usual care a written discourse, to deliver to a 
large congregation, whilst on the way to the place of 
worship, saw a half-leaf of a book lying on the ground, which 
he took up. What the book was, of which it had been a part, 
he never knew; but there was a text of Scripture on the frag- 
ment, and a remark there which he read, that took such hold 
of his mind, that he believed it to be his duty to preach on it. 
So with his carefully prepared manuscript in his pocket, he 
spoke to the audience as his mind seemed led. He treated on 
skeptical sophistries, and closed with a solemn appeal to such 
as give way to such shallow reasonings, to examine the Truth 
in its own spirit, and earnestly seek, through the Lord's assist- 
ance, to become sons of God. He was much favored in this, 
his unpremeditated ministry; so much so as to call forth this 
remark, from the most spiritually minded members of the 
church: "Most assuredly of God to the congregation." He 
told them he hoped it was so, and said he had no thought of 
taking; that text, or delivering such a sermon when he left his 
own house. They, as well as he, could feel there was some- 
thing about this discourse, which was not to be found con- 
nected with his usual written essays. 

In a few weeks after the delivery of this sermon, a young 
lawyer called upon him to say, that, through the blessing of 
God on that discourse, he had been delivered from deep 
inward conflicts with skeptical temptations. An entire change 
of heart and life followed; he found it necessary to give up 
practice at the bar, and to seek after a profession which did 



170 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

not present so many difficulties in the way of being a truly 
consistent Christian — whose meat and drink it is to do the will 
of God, and to promote peace and harmony amongst all men. 

Another preacher has left it on record, that on a certain 
occasion, as he was just ready to commence the delivery of a 
discourse, deliberately prepared at home, he observed four 
men enter the place of worship. Immediately, as they entered, 
his mind was turned in such a remarkable manner to the 
Scripture account of the general deluge, and trains of thought 
so presented on this subject, , that' he felt impelled to speak 
on it. There was no time for delay, and believing it to be 
his duty, he spoke as matters were opened to his mind. He 
treated on the reasons for the deluge, the useful results spring- 
ing from it, and Noah's wisdom, in obedience to the Lord's 
command, in preparing for it. The congregation seemed 
unusually attentive, and to the speaker himself, the new train 
of thought into which he had been led, and the solemn feeling 
which accompanied the delivery, were intensely interesting. 

Several months had passed away, when one day three men 
called to see him. They were three of the four men whose 
entrance into his meeting-house had been so particularly 
observed. They told him that all four had been avowed 
deists; that, upon the day alluded to, they had been seeking 
amusement together, and as they were returning, the Scriptural 
account of the deluge had been the subject of their conversa- 
tion and ridicule; that they had heard in his discourse, to their 
amazement, not a few of their own sophistries repeated in the 
very language in which they had uttered them, and with clear- 
ness and power solidly refuted. 

These four men were all, in the suffering mercy of God, 
through the instrumentality of that discourse, brought under 
deep religious concern for the well-being of their immortal 
souls; and there is good reason to believe, in time, witnessed 
the new birth unto holiness, and walked thereafter in the lowly 
path of self-denial, as true-hearted followers and disciples of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Of one of them, who had deceased 
when the account was taken down, it is stated, that he left 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 171 

behind him a blessed testimony — in the minds of those who 
witnessed his departure — that he had exchanged mortality for 
immortality, the trials and tribulations of this life for joy 
unspeakable and full of glory. 



■ASK, AND YE SHALL RECEIVE: 



A FEW years since, the writer became possesor, by will of 
a relative, of a sum of money, to be distributed at my 
discretion among those in limited or needed circum- 
stances, as their condition might require. 

Shortly after it came under my control (and before I had 
taken much thought about who might be most in need), I felt 
on a certain evening, an unexpected, but clear impression, that 
on the next morning I must make a social visit to an intimate 
friend, a widow living in a neighboring state, whose humble 
home I could reach in a few hours. I had been intending for 
several weeks to make the visit, which had again and again 
been postponed on account of the various hindering things 
which will unavoidably occur to thwart our plans, and it did 
not therefore strike me as anything wonderful that I should 
so suddenly decide to accomplish it, now that these seemed 
removed, and I could step in and perhaps add to her pleasure 
by the surprise such an unlooked for guest might be to her. 
Soon after concluding to take an early train the next morning, 
I seemed forcibly reminded to take with me some of the 
money above alluded to, but hesitated, as I did not really know 
that she was in need of assistance. This I did know, that her 
income, at most, was small, and had been reduced by unfor- 
tunate investment a few years before. On consulting my 
husband, we concluded it best for me to take it, and if she had 
no use for it, no harm could be done either by the offer or the 
refusal, and I felt satisfied that in her character she was so 
truly Christian, that no offense would be taken at my seeming 
intrusion upon her own private affairs, of which at that time I 
knew but little. 



172 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

I reached her home a little before noon, found her alone, her 
only daughter being absent. The remainder of the day passed 
pleasantly, and as she was one of those cheerful, trusting 
ones, who looked on the bright side of things, fully believing 
that even our afflictions are our blessings, I saw no evidence 
of anything troubling her; and as I looked around her com- 
fortable room, with everything really needful for her small 
family, though not containing a single unnecessary article, I 
almost regretted having replenished my purse on her account, 
and felt much hesitation about-mentioning the subject to her. 

But as the evening closed in upon us, and we sat by her 
bright fire, I finally told her what I had done and why. I 
scarcely had time to finish before she burst into tears, and 
seemed so deeply affected, that for some minutes she could 
not proceed with explaining why it was so. After expressing 
her gratitude in broken sentences, she went on to tell me how 
her heart had been pained the day before by receiving a letter 
from her only son, living in one of the Southern States, telling 
her that from various causes not within his control, he had 
become so reduced as to be unable to provide for his family, 
and that they were really in a suffering condition. 

She said she could neither eat or sleep after hearing it, and 
added, "I earnestly prayed to my Heavenly Father, that he 
would be pleased to make a way, by which I might obtain 
means to relieve my poor boy and his little ones, and now my 
prayer has been answered in a way so unexpected to me," with 
much more which I cannot recall, expressive of her gratitude 
to God for His great kindness to her and her children. 

I think it might truly be said that her petition was imme- 
diately granted, for it was made near the same time in the 
evening, when it seemed so plainly to come before me, that on 
the morrow I must set out on my visit to her. 

It may add something to the interest of my narrative to tell 
how she was roused from her train of sad thoughts, by the 
little son of a next door neighbor, who often ran in and 
entertained her with his childish prattle. He entered in child- 
like haste, and seeing no lamps lighted as usual, he said: 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 173 

"Mrs. 'ou has no light, has 'ou had no supper?" This 

startled her, and she found she had neither remembered that 
she was in the dark, nor that she had made no preparation for 
her evening meal. 

The whole circumstance impressed me deeply, and I often 
refer to it with the firm conviction, that to all those who trust 
in the Lord shall be verified that emphatic declaration of our 
Saviour, "Ask, and ye shall receive." 



SPECIAL PROVIDENCE. 



DR. O. H. TIFFANY, of Chicago, tells the story of a 
remarkable case which occurred many years ago in 
Pennsylvania: 

"A dear friend of mine, Dr. John M'Clintock, had been 
indicted on a charge which grew out of the escape of an 
alleged fugitive slave, and the case attracted general attention. 
Pending the trial, Jacob Rheem, whom I knew well, was told a 
conspiracy existed to secure the conviction of Dr. M'Clintock, 
and the conversation of the conspirators was related to him by 
one who had overheard it. The fact, if established, would end 
the case, but, unfortunately, J. R. could not remember the 
name of the man who had given him the information, and so 
the case was imperiled. Every care was taken by J. R. to 
recall each event of the day when he gained the valuable 
knowledge, but it was all in vain ; his mind was perfectly blank 
as to the party, and so remained until the trial was begun. He 
was put on the witness stand, still unable to remember, 

"He gave the conversation as detailed to him; and when 
asked to name his authority, spoke not a word, but cast his 
eyes first to the roof, and then around the court room, till, as 
they were fixed upon the entrance, he suddenly sprang almost 
into the air, as he pointed his finger at a man just coming in, 
and said, ' There he is ! That's the man ! ' On being called to 
the stand, the stranger corroborated Rheem in every particular, 
and stated that he was a countryman living miles out of Car- 



174 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

lisle, and he had not been in the town since the day he had 
told Rheem what he had heard, and had come in that day 
knowing nothing about the trial, not suspecting that he was 
wanted, and had merely strolled into the court house without 
motive, except to gratify an idle curiosity, and 'see what was 
up.' William Meredith, of Philadelphia, one of Dr. M'Clin- 
tock's counsel, when he told the story, as he often did, always 
closed by saying, 'After that, gentlemen, I cannot refuse to 
believe in a special Providence.' " 



WONDERFUL DELIVERANCE. 



THE Watchman and Reflector furnishes the following extra- 
ordinary incident: "A clergyman, whom I personally 
knew, was charged by a woman with crime. A council, 
consisting of seven clergymen, with other persons, was con- 
vened. Two days were consumed by a long detail of circum- 
stances, all of which bore the semblance of guilt, and which 
were sustained by the solemn affidavit and oath of the accusing 
party. Sometime about ten o'clock on the closing day, the 
evidence being all adverse, although the minister solemnly 
protested his perfect innocency, a resolution was introduced to 
depose him. To this, he requested simply that the action 
upon it might be deferred till the next morning; which request 
was granted. He then proposed that the night should be 
devoted to special prayer, saying, ' I believe there is a righteous 
God in heaven, and who, in His providence, governs upon 
earth. I believe I am His servant, and am willing to commit 
my case to Him, after such an exercise in prayer.' The clergy- 
men were much exhausted, nevertheless two of them agreed 
to his proposition. These two remarked as they met, one to 
the other, 'I have had remarkable freedom in prayer, and I 
believe light will beam from some quarter, I know not where.' 
While they were at prayer, a loud rap was heard upon the 
door of the house. A messenger from the dwelling of the 
accuser was there, with an urgent entreaty that they would 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 1/5 

come immediately thither. On entering her apartment, she 
addressed them, saying, ' I have sinned. He is perfectly inno- 
cent' By circumstances which she related, all were convinced 
that she told the truth. She had been suddenly prostrated by 
disease, which terminated fatally. Her statements were given 
to the public. Great fear fell upon the people, and to this day, 
many remember well the emphasis with which these words 
were quoted in that region; namely, 'Verily there is a reward 
for the righteous; verily He is a God that judgeth in the 
earth.'" 



LARKS SENT TO THE STARVING. 



THOMAS FULLER, that ancient, quaint, witty, religious 
writer, relates the following interesting circumstance 
which occurred at the city of Exeter in England, in the 
year 1643. He was himself a witness of the transaction which 
he records, and we give the narrative in his own words : 

"When the city of Exeter was besieged by the Parliamen- 
tary forces, so that only the south side thereof, toward the sea, 
was open unto it, incredible numbers of larks were found in 
that open quarter, for multitudes, like quails in the wilderness, 
though blessed be God, unlike them both in cause and effect, 
as not desired with man's destruction, nor sent with God's 
anger, as appeared by their safe digestion into wholesome 
nourishment; hereof I was an eye and mouth witness. I will 
save my credit in not conjecturing any number, knowing that 
therein, though I should stoop beneath the truth, I should 
mount above belief. They were as fat as plentiful; so that, 
being sold for two pence a dozen and under, the poor, who 
could have no cheaper, or the rich no better meat, used to 
make pottage of them, boiling them down therein. Several 
natural causes were assigned hereof. * * * * However, the 
cause of causes was Divine Providence!' 

There were, without doubt, divers other pious persons 
besides Fuller, shut up in Exeter at that time; children also, 



i;6 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

and many simple, ignorant persons, who, in a spiritual sense, 
could hardly "discern between their right hand and their left," 
and He who spared Ninevah of old; who caused quails and 
manna to fall around the camp of His hungry Israel in the 
wilderness; who bade even ravens minister to the necessity of 
His prophet Elijah, saw meet, in His preserving Providence, to 
cause the famine in Exeter to be stayed by the larks. 



"SEND PROVISIONS TO CALEB: 



A CLERGYMAN residing near Bath, England, awoke 
one night with an impression on his mind: "Send 
provisions to Caleb." Not knowing any one of that 
name, he settled off again to sleep, but not to rest. " Send 
provisions to Caleb," again sounded in his ear, sleeping or 
waking; and, uneasy in his mind, he addressed his wife, inquir- 
ing if she knew any one of that name. The reply was in the 
negative, and not seeing how to help himself in the darkness 
of night, he once more endeavored to compose himself to 
sleep. 

It was, however, in vain. " Send provisions to Caleb," con- 
tinued to haunt him, until at last, unable to rest, he rose, called 
up his coachman, and descending to the larder, filled a hamper 
with bread, meat and other food, telling the man he must go 
and find out where "Caleb" lived, in full belief some one of 
that name was in great need. 

"With all my heart, sir," said the man, "if you will tell me 
where; but how in the name of goodness am I to find Caleb 
in the darkness of night, with no one about who could help or 
direct me ?" 

"It matters not," said his master, "saddle the horse and 
start. Take the basket, and lay the bridle across the horse's 
neck; my impression of duty is so strong, that I believe, in 
our ignorance, the horse will be guided aright." 

It was snowing fast, and in the pitiless night the kind- 
hearted coachman sallied forth on his apparently hopeless 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 177 

errand; but it did not turn out so. On went the horse, un- 
guided, neither turning to the right or left for some miles, 
when suddenly, coming to a barren heath, he turned out of 
the road, and through the deep snow went across the common, 
where was no beaten track, and then stopped suddenly before 
a little hovel, which would have been passed unnoticed but for 
his sudden halting. "Does any one named Caleb live here?" 
shouted the coachman; when a voice replied, "Yes, indeed, 
you are all right — our prayers are answered ! " It was found 
that this poor and aged man, living in this lonely abode, had 
been brought very low through sickness and poverty, and that 
he and his family were none of them able to seek help. They 
had been for some days in a most destitute condition ; how to 
make their sad case known they knew not, and they had just 
been praying to their Heavenly Father either to send relief, or 
enable them to submit to His will and die. This circumstance 
was some time after narrated at a meeting, when a gentleman 
rose and said, " That is quite true, for I know Caleb, and have 
heard him speak of this fact as a proof that God hears and 
answers prayer." 



THE LORD HELPS: 



THE subject of our story was only a poor weaver, living 
in the little German town of Wupperthal; a poor man 
in his outward circumstance, but rich toward God, and 
well-known in his neighborhood as one who trusted in the 
Lord at all times. His constant faith was expressed in what 
became his habitual utterance, under all circumstances of 
trouble or prosperity. "The Lord helps," he was wont to say; 
and he said it undauntedly, even when it looked as if the Lord 
had forsaken him. Such a time it was when, in a season of 
scarcity, work ran short, many hands were discharged, and the 
master by whom our weaver was employed gave him his dis- 
missal. After much fruitless entreaty that he might be kept 
on, he said at last, "Well, the Lord helps," and so he returned 

L 



178 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

home. His wife, when she heard the sad news, bewailed it 
terribly; but her husband strove to cheer her with his accus- 
tomed assurance. " The Lord helps," he said ; and even though, 
as the days went on, poverty pinched them sorely, nothing 
could shake his firm reliance on Him in whom he trusted. At 
last came the day when not a penny was left, no bread, no fuel 
in the house, only starvation stared them in the face. Sadly 
his wife tidied and swept the little room on the ground floor 
in which they lived. The window was open, and possibly the 
words, with which the weaver strove to keep up their courage, 
"The Lord helps," were heard outside. Presently a street boy 
looked saucily in, and threw a dead raven at the feet of the 
pious man. "There, saint! there is something for you to eat," 
he cried. 

The weaver picked up the dead raven, and stroking its 
feathers down, said compassionately, " Poor creature ! thou 
must have died of hunger." When, however, he felt its crop 
to see whether it was empty, he noticed something hard, and 
wishing to know what had caused the bird's death, he began 
to examine it. What was his surprise when, on opening the 
gullet, a gold necklace fell into his hand. The wife looked at it 
confounded; the weaver exclaimed, "The Lord helps," and in 
haste took the chain to the nearest goldsmith, told him how 
he had found it, and received with gladness two dollars, which 
the goldsmith offered to lend him for his present need. 

The goldsmith soon cleaned the trinket, and recognized it 
as one he had seen before. "Shall I tell you the owner?" he 
asked, when the weaver called again. "Yes," was the joyful 
answer, "for I would gladly give it back into the right hands." 

But what cause had he to admire the wonderful ways of 
God when the goldsmith pronounced the name of his master 
at the factory. Quickly he took the necklace and went with 
it to his former employer. In his family, too, there was much 
joy at the discovery, for suspicion was removed from a servant. 
But the merchant was ashamed and touched; he had not 
forgotten the words uttered by the poor man when he was 
dismissed. "Yes," he said, thoughtfully and kindly, "'The 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 179 

Lord helps,' and now you shall not only go home richly 
rewarded, but I will no longer leave without work, a workman 
whom the Lord so evidently stands by and helps. You shall 
henceforth be no more in need." Thus He who fed Elijah by 
living ravens, proved Himself equally able to supply the needs 
of His tried servant by the same bird when dead. 



REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF PROVIDENTIAL 
DELIVERANCE. 



PIERRE RABINEL was a worthy old man, and a minister 
amongst the little company of Friends at Congenies in 
the south of France. He earned a living by pruning 
the vine, as well as from a vineyard of his own, which he culti- 
vated himself. The latter was situated in a distant part of the 
country, on the side of a hill. 

One evening whilst the moon shone brightly, Pierre Rabinel 
was pursuing his usual work of digging about the roots of his 
vineyard. Hearing a noise near him, he looked up and saw a 
wolf advancing toward him, growling and showing his hungry 
teeth. The good old man did not lose his presence of mind, 
but keeping his eye on the ravenous wolf, fell on his knees, 
and poured forth an earnest prayer to his Heavenly Father to 
be his protector, and enable him to drive away or escape his 
fearful companion. 

Rising from his knees, still keeping his eyes steadily fixed on 
those of the wolf, which was only distant from him the length 
of his pickaxe, he walked backward over a very stony path, if 
path it might be called, for at least a mile, the wolf keeping 
close to him all the way, when an unexpected noise frightened 
the ravenous beast, which after grinning at him, turned sud- 
denly away and very soon disappeared. 

The Friend who related the particulars of this circumstance 
to the writer, is a native of Congenies, and says the story has 
been familiar to her since her childhood, and that she has often 
made the good old man relate it to her whilst she sat on his 



180 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

knee. "He never related it," she adds, "without deep serious- 
ness, and the recollection of the power which in so remarkable 
a manner kept his enemy at bay, frequently filled his eyes with 
tears of gratitude." 



GOD'S PROVIDENCE IN THE SEA. 



THE captain took me home to dine with him, after morn- 
ing service, and somehow we got to talking about special 
Providences. He had no theory to propound; but his 
own experience as a sea-faring man had taught him to believe 
that God's care extends to even the minutest things. I have 
jotted down some of the incidents he related. 

The chirp of a bird once saved his life, and kept his soul 
from going into eternity unprepared. It happened in this wise. 
He was a young seaman in a vessel off the coast of Mozam- 
bique. The ship master felt apprehensive that they were 
approaching the dangerous coral-reefs, and before going below, 
gave strict orders that his vessel should "lay to" at two 
o'clock in the morning. On the watch together, were the 
mate and the young man. Half-past one had struck, and the 
officer said, "Look sharp for two o'clock; we must be near 
the reefs." 

Hardly had the words been spoken, when the young man 
heard the chirp of a bird. There was nothing extraordinary 
in this, for the sea-gulls were common, and he supposed it was 
one of them. He considered it hardly worthy of remark, but 
some peculiarity of the note made him call the attention of 
the mate to it. 

"That may be a land bird," said the practiced seaman at 
once; "and if so there is land — and probably rock — not far 
off." Springing forward he shouted to the sailor on the look- 
out: "See anything ahead up there?" 

" Hard-up ! hard-up your helm, and be quick about it ! " was 
the ringing response. 

The ship swung round within a few feet of a coral-reef An 
instant more and there would have been an inevitable wreck. 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 181 

Did the crew get through the breakers alive, it would only be 
to perish by starvation on the low island, which furnished no 
food and was far from the usual track of vessels. He believed 
— and who would dispute him — that it was not good luck, but 
the good God that sent a little twittering land bird, wind- 
blown, to save a whole ship's crew from a terrible death, in 
a sea so lonely, that neither parents, nor wives, nor children 
should ever know of their fate. 

One illustration more he gave of God's Providence in the 
sea. In a terrible storm, a heavy wave washed over his ship's 
deck. The mate was swept from the helm over the taffrail, 
into the boiling sea. All were too busy in looking out for 
themselves to render him any aid. He seemed to have no 
possible chance of escape. But the same wave had wrenched 
a boat-hook from its place. As it was washed over the side 
the hook caught on a ratlin, and when the drowning man 
came to his senses, he found the boat-hook just within his 
reach, as if put there by a friendly hand. He grasped it, 
pulled himself on board, and was saved. Hardly one chance 
in a million was there, that the instrument of safety would 
have been in just that place at just that instant. Yet a few 
inches of variation would have put it beyond the struggling 
man's reach in the whirl of waters. Was he indebted to the 
millionth chance, or to the Almighty arm of Jehovah, for 
being snatched from an ocean grave ? Can nineteenth century 
science give a better answer than that of the book of Proverbs, 
a thousand years before Christ: "He gave to the sea His 
decree, that the waters should not pass His commandment." 



"I HAVE JUST MET WITH A WONDERFUL MANIFESTA- 
TION OF DIVINE providence:' 



THUS spake a venerable man of God, some months since, 
on meeting me on one of the streets of our city. He 
was aged, though active; had a .wife and children to 
provide for, and withal was poor. After introducing the sub- 



182 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

ject in the manner, and with the words at the head of* this 
article, he proceeded to narrate the following facts. 

That morning as he sat down at his table with his wife and 
children, to partake of a very scanty breakfast, his partner told 
him it was the very last in the house, and said, "Husband, 
where is the dinner to come from ?" He replied that he knew 
not, and added, "God will provide." After finishing their 
humble meal, instead of offering thanks to God in the cus- 
tomary manner, they bowed down upon their knees, and by 
"prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving," made known 
their requests. Before concluding their devotions, a knock 
was heard at the front door of his house. On finishing the 
prayer, he went to the door, and much to his surprise, there 
stood before him a most excellent and pious brother, a member 
of one of the Presbyterian churches of this city; a gentleman 
whose worth was "known and read" of many, but whose 
numerous acts of noble charity will never be fully manifested 
until the "judgment of the great day." His astonishment at 
seeing this excellent man was the greater, because he had but 
a partial personal acquaintance with him, and he had never 
before visited his dwelling. Upon invitation he entered, and 
after being seated, asked the old gentleman how it was with 
him and his family. After telling him, in reply, that physically 
they were well, and spiritually they were at "peace with God 
and all mankind," he apologized for keeping him at the door 
for a short time, and told him of what his wife had said at the 
commencement of their meal, and further remarked that when 
he knocked, they were engaged in fervent prayer to God, com- 
mending themselves in their necessitous state to His fatherly 
care. 

After listening to his simple and affecting narrative, this 
brother told him that he had left his home, thus early, for the 
purpose of visiting a poor widow who lived some distance 
beyond him, and without the most remote thought of calling 
on him or his family. On passing his door, the impression 
was made strongly on his mind, that he ought to stop and 
inquire after his health. He resisted it, and went on, because 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 183 

of not being, as he supposed, sufficiently intimate with him to 
justify such a visit, and particularly so early in the day. He 
had not, however, progressed very far, before the impression 
became so strong, that he stopped, and after reflecting for a 
moment or two, determined to yield to it. He had done so. 
Whilst in the act of saying a few words of encouragement to 
this aged servant of God, he took leave of him, at the same 
time pressing into his hand a ten dollar gold piece. 

This was truly a direct and " wonderful manifestation of 
Divine Providence," in behalf of His needy child. The a eye 
of the Lord" was over him for good, and thus sent help from 
a quarter least expected, and at the very time in which it was 
most called for. 



PROVIDENTIAL V/AKING. 



THE following incident, related by the person concerned in 
it, shows the watchfulness of our Heavenly Father in 
preserving us in our defenseless hours. The narrator 
says: 

"In 1845-6, while attending the Jefferson College in Phila- 
delphia, I was boarding in one of the houses kept for the 
accommodation of the students, and rooming alone in the 
second story, other students occupying five or six rooms on 
the same floor. 

"Just before retiring, one evening, as was my custom, I 
covered up the coal fire with the ashes, and immediately laid 
down to sleep. Some time during the night — the hour I know 
not, but quite late, as all the students had retired, as well as 
the family occupying the first floor and the basement — I was 
aroused, got up, unlocked my door, walked three or four paces, 
and opened the door to the garret above, when I found the 
stairway and lath near it, in flames ! 

" Without making any alarm I quickly returned to my room, 
and taking the water provided for my morning ablutions, I 
put out the flames as well as I could, and went down-stairs for 



1 84 PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 

more. Before sleeping again, I satisfied myself that the fire 
had been extinguished, but did not speak of the matter until 
at breakfast, when I related the whole affair to the students 
and others present at the table. They were, of course, much 
startled at their escape from such an imminent peril. And 
they had good reason to be seriously impressed with the 
particular care God exercised over that house, and the lives 
therein, during that night. It may be that some will say that 
there is nothing strange in this, and that it is no evidence of a 
special Providence. I can never persuade myself so to believe. 
Why I awoke just at that moment, being in good health, with 
everything quiet in the house, and opened the doors and 
looked as I did, and thus became the means of saving prop- 
erty and lives from destruction, is only known to Him who 
rules the nations of the earth, and sees when a sparrow falls to 
the ground. It could not have been long, judging from the 
appearances when I opened the garret door, before the flames 
would have communicated with the floor and roof above, and 
the consequences that might have followed are known only to 
Him who caused me to act as I did. ' Oh, that men would 
praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works 
to the children of men.' " 



THE VALUE OF PREMONITIONS. 



ONE of our railroad engineers some years since was run- 
ning an express train of ten well-filled cars. It was in 
the night, and a very dark night too. His train was 
behind time, and he was putting the engine to the utmost 
speed of which it was capable, in order to reach a certain 
point at the proper hour. He was running on a straight and 
level track, and at this unusual velocity, when a conviction 
struck him that he must stop. U A something seemed to tell 
me," he said, "that to go ahead was dangerous, and that I 
must stop if I would save my life. I looked back at my train, 
and it was all right. I strained my eyes and peered into the 



PARTICULAR PROVIDENCES. 185 

darkness, and could see no signal of danger, or anything 
betokening danger, and there in the- day-time I could have 
seen five miles. I listened to the working of my engine, tried 
the water, looked at the scales, and all was right. I tried 
to laugh myself out of what I then considered a childish fear; 
but it grew stronger in its hold upon me. I thought of the 
ridicule I would have heaped upon me if I did stop, but it was 
all of no avail. The conviction — for by this time it had 
ripened into conviction — that I must stop, grew stronger, and 
I resolved to stop. I shut off, and blew the whistle for brakes 
accordingly. I came to a dead halt, got off, and went ahead a 
little, without saying anything to anybody as to what was the 
matter. I had a lantern in my hand, and had gone about 
sixty feet, when I saw what convinced me that premonitions 
are sometimes possible. I dropped the lantern from my nerve- 
less grasp, and sat down on the track, utterly unable to stand." 

He goes on to tell us that there he found some one had 
drawn a spike, which had long fastened a switch-rail, and 
opened a switch which had always been kept locked, and 
which led on a track — only about one hundred and fifty feet 
long — which terminated in a stone quarry. "Here it was, 
wide open, and had I not obeyed my premonitory warning — 
call it what you will — I should have run into it, and at the end 
of the track, only about ten rods long, my heavy engine and 
train, moving at the rate of forty-five miles an hour, would 
have come into collision with a solid wall of rock, eighteen 
feet high ! The consequences, had I done so, can neither be 
imagined nor described, but they could by no possibility been 
otherwise than horribly fatal." 

No one can here doubt the fact of a special interposition of 
God, by which, from a calamity most terrific, hundreds of lives 
were wonderfully spared. 



PRAYER. 



REMARKABLE ANSWER TO PRAYER. 



THE following circumstance was related to me by the late 
Brother P , who was one of the most deeply pious 

men I ever knew, and for many years a class-leader in 
one of the Methodist churches in Philadelphia. This brother 
and myself were conversing one day on God's dealings toward 
His children, and how far we might expect the interposition 
of Divine Providence, in answer to prayer, in the prosecution 
of the ordinary business of life, when, with tears of joy rolling 
down his cheeks, he related to me the following: 

"After I had served out my time, and had married, which 
was about thirty-five years ago, I moved with my little family 
to Wilmington, about thirty miles below Philadelphia, and 
opened a small jewelry store, which was my business, trusting 
in God to prosper me. But, for several years, business was 
dull, and frequently, for weeks, I would not take in enough to 
keep my family in bread. This state of things continued so 
long, that I began to be discouraged, and to look around for 
some way of escape, but none appeared to offer. To make 
my difficulties worse, if possible, a very deep snow had fallen ; 
it was midwinter, and, with the exception of a watch or two 
to repair, I had taken nothing in for many days. The wants 
of myself and family were pressing upon me, and two notes 
were coming due in Philadelphia in a few days for over $400. 
I tried to borrow of my friends; but those who would have 



1 88 PRAYER. 

gladly assisted me, were, in consequence of the stringency of 
•the times, unable to do so. I then tried to get the notes 
renewed, but this was positively refused ; so that, apparently, 
in a few days my little all would be sold out by the sheriff. 
In this emergency I resolved to lay my case before the Lord, 
and, in order to do this, I set apart a day for fasting and prayer. 
This was on Friday; the next Monday the payment of the 
notes fell due ; and my creditors told me plainly, if they were 
not paid, they would immediately proceed against me. 

"Under these discouraging .circumstances, I arose very early 
on the morning which I had devoted to prayer and fasting, 
and, locking myself in my room, commenced to pray. All 
day I stayed there; now reading some encouraging chapter 
in God's blessed book, then earnestly pressing my case at 
the throne of Grace. Having thus passed the day, in the 
twilight of the evening I received what I believed to be clear 
evidence, that the Lord had heard my prayer, and that deliver- 
ance was at hand. I left the room happy in God. Frequently 
on Saturday, and also on the Sabbath, would my mind turn to 
my approaching difficulties; but, if I attempted to pray about 
it, the same evidence would be renewed that deliverance was 
at hand. On Monday morning I arose three hours before day. 
It had been snowing, and everything outward was dreary. I 
fell on my knees, and attempted to lay my case before the 
Lord again, when, with such power that I was thrown flat on 
my face on the floor, the evidence was again renewed — deliv- 
erance is at hand. I went to my store, made a fire, and sat 
down behind the counter. It was now nearly daylight. I 
would here state, that in my window there hung, as a show- 
set, an antiquated set of silverware, of English make, very 
heavy, having 'the English coat of arms engraved on it. It 
had been owned by my last employer for some twenty years, 
and by me for several. No one ever asked its price; it was 
simply in the window for a show. As the day began to dawn, 
I heard the creak of a wagon, and, on looking out, I perceived 
an old-fashioned gig drive up and stop, when a tall and vener- 
able-looking man, whose locks were almost as white as the 



PRAYER. 189 

snow that lay on the ground, stepped down, and, after looking 
in my window for a moment, entered the store, and imme- 
diately asked the price of the silver-set in the window. I told 
him with a faltering voice five hundred dollars. He asked me 
with a benevolent look, if I had a box that would hold it; 
and, on my answering in the affirmative, he told me he would 
take it. In a few minutes it was safely boxed, and put into his 
gig; the money in gold paid down, and he, with a smile, drove 
off. No one was ever able to tell from whence he came, or 
whither he went; nor have I ever been able to tell to this day. 
Suffice it to say, I procured a good horse, mounted him, and a 
few minutes before three o'clock, was in Philadelphia, paid my 
notes, and returned the next day to my family, strong in faith, 
giving glory to God." 



A PRAYER-ANSWERING GOB. 



\ COMPANY of Moravian missionaries were on their 
J^\_ voyage from London to St. Thomas, on board the ship 
Britannia. Nothing remarkable occurred till they dis- 
covered a pirate. 

The pirate ship approached till it came within gun-shot of 
the Britannia; and then, from the cannon ranged along its 
deck, began to pour out a heavy fire. There were grappling 
irons on board, or strong sharp hooks, fixed to -long ropes^ 
ready to throw into the Britannia, and hold her fast, while the 
pirates should board her, and do their work of destruction. 
It seemed that there was little chance of escape from such an 
enemy. But the captain, whose heart was sinking at the fear- 
ful prospect before him, did not know what powerful helpers 
he had below, in the few peaceful missionaries, whose fervent 
prayers were then ascending, through the noise of the fight, 
to heaven. 

The moment the pirates tried to throw their grappling irons 
across to the other ship, their own was tossed violently, and 
the men who held the ropes were thrown by force into the 






1 90 PRA YER. 

sea. Vexed by this disaster, the pirate captain sent others 
who shared the same fate. Seeing that he could not succeed 
in this manner, he resolved to fire at the Britannia, till she 
sunk from repeated blows. But this effect failed strangely 
also ; for the balls missed their aim, and fell into the sea. The 
smoke of the frequent charges was very dense, and hung 
about the vessels for several minutes, hiding them from each 
other's view. At last a sudden gust of wind cleared it away; 
and to the amazement of the pirate captain, the Britannia was 
seen at a distance with all her sails spread to the wind, speed- 
ing swiftly away from the attack, and they were forced in great 
anger to abandon their cruel purposes. Thus wonderfully had 
God appeared, and saved the vessel in answer to prayer. The 
missionaries' prayers had been greatly honored, but they were 
to have a further fruit still. 

Five years afterward, during which the missionaries had 
been diligently preaching the Gospel at St. Thomas, they, and 
the other missionaries on the island, agreed to meet together 
to celebrate the anniversary of their deliverance from the 
pirates, and to thank God for His other mercies. As they sat 
together, word was brought that a stranger wished to speak to 
them, and at their permission a tall man entered, with fine bold 
features, and a bold expression of face. The missionaries 
wondered, and one asked what was the strangers' business 
with them. 

"First answer me one question," said he. "Are you the 
men who came to this island five years ago in the English 
ship Britannia?" 

"We are," replied the missionary who had spoken. 

"And you were attacked on the sea by pirates ?" 

" Exactly, but why these questions ? " 

" Because," answered the stranger, " I am the captain who 
commanded the vessel which attacked you." Then the mis- 
sionaries looked at one another in silent wonder, as their 
former enemy continued: "The miraculous way in which your 
vessel escaped was the cause of my own escape from the 
power of sin, through faith in Christ." 



PR A YER. 191 

It would be too long to tell you all his words; but you may 
imagine with what unspeakable joy the missionaries listened 
to his tale, as he went on to tell them how, in his vexation at 
their escape, he had made inquiries for the captain of the 
Britannia, and learned that it was through the prayers of the 
Moravian missionaries of St. Thomas, and how, not under- 
standing how a vessel could be saved from pirates by prayer, 
he resolved to know the Moravian brothers. He sold his 
vessel, and in the United States of America one day visited a 
Moravian chapel, and heard a sermon from the words, " Work 
out your own salvation with fear and trembling." He sought 
the preacher, and heard from him the way of salvation through 
Jesus Christ, "and thus," he concluded, "from a pirate captain 
I am a poor sinner, saved by the grace and mercy of Christ, 
and my chief hope has been that I might one day be able to 
see you, and relate to you my miraculous conversion. This 
joy is granted to me to-day." 

He ceased, and you may imagine the feelings of the mission- 
aries. They were met to celebrate their deliverance from the 
pirates on that day five years ago, through prayer, and there 
stood before them the pirate captain himself, not fierce now, 
but humble and pious, who traced his own deliverance from 
the bondage of Satan to the same prayer that rescued them 
from him ! They all knelt down together before God, and 
thanked Him for His great mercies. 



A DUELISTS PRAYING WIFE. 



IN YEARS that are gone there lived in a Southern city, a 
fine-looking man, of large wealth and old family. His 
wife was from a family as old, and wealth almost as great 
as his own. But his family was one of the gayest in the city; 
hers one of the most actively and truly Christian. The theatre, 
the opera, the dancing party, were his delight To read the 
Bible and pray with her servants each morning, to care for 
their life-needs and their soul-needs, to sit by their sick-beds 



1 9 2 PRAYER. 

and point their souls heavenward, were her pursuits. It is said 
that if one has walked in the Spice Islands, the aroma of their 
garments will tell it. So not words, but the gentle doings and 
not-doings of her daily life, told that her walk was with God. 
And her religion was so a part of herself that no time, place 
or circumstance could part her from it; and her husband idol- 
ized in her this very unlikeness to himself. 

Her mother told me — and it is for that, that I write these 
recollections at this time — that, after high words, her son-in- 
law was challenged by a notorious duelist and unfailing shot 
It was a fancy feat of his to snuff a candle at long range. His 
friends told her son that it was certain death to accept the chal- 
lenge, and his wife, with her arms around his neck, implored 
him, for her sake, for his children's sake, for his own soul's 
sake, to refuse the challenge. But he talked about the code, 
and his honor, and the like. 

"Will you give your worst enemy a pleasure, your dearest 
ones a life of suffering?" she asked. 

"I'll give him sorry pleasure; Til give him a bullet. I'll 
send him to a bad place." 

" Will you meet your Judge, with a murdered man as a pass- 
port to heaven?" 

"Do hush, dear wife; you unnerve me." 

But she could not hush until he pledged his honor that, if 
God spared his life, as soon as he had his breakfast, he would 
refuse ever to fight a duel. It was a subterfuge which she did 
not understand at the time, but she did understand it when a 
little after break of day, a light kiss on Her forehead — her 
husband's farewell kiss — made her open her eyes and find him 
gone. The noise of wheels at that unwonted hour made her 
fly to the window, only to see the back of the carriage as it 
moved fast away, speeding her husband to an eternal death. 

She fell on her knees in an agony. One — the God, the holy 
God — whose laws he was violating and whose justice he was 
daring, could save him from the eternal, eternal doom he was 
courting. But " Father, spare him ! Father, spare him ! spare 
him ! " was her heart-cry to God, unheard by mortal, but heard 



PR A YER. 



193 



in heaven. She took no thought of time, she took no note of 
sounds, for more than two hours. She did not move till his 
voice, cheery and clear rang out, " I knew you were praying for 
me" She sprang up and staggered toward him, and he caught 
her in a close embrace, and to the questioning of her eyes 
answered : 

" No ! I did not hurt him. I fired into the air." 
After her "heavenly smile," as he called it, he added: 
" He had the first fire, and took deliberate aim and didn't 
touch me, though I have seen him snuff a candle at that dis- 
tance. He declared some one hit his elbow ! I knew, then, 
you were praying, and I fired in the air. His craven soul was 
not worthy of my bullet, but he would have had it but for 
your sake." 



ANSWER TO PRAYER. 



A LADY was traveling with her young family and their 
governess to the sea. They used post horses with 
their own carriage. They had not gone many miles 
before she discovered that the cook, contrary to her orders, 
had filled all the pockets and every spare nook of the coach 
with provisions. She was very much annoyed, and the first 
time they stopped to change horses, had everything turned 
into a hamper, and told the servant to give it away. The 
governess asked permission to go with the servant while the 
carriage was detained to see it properly given. A reluctant- 
consent was obtained, and she hastened into the poorest part 
of the town that lay near the inn. She had little time for any 
choice, so turning down a street, she resolved to leave the 
hamper at the first clean-looking house she came to. Passing 
several, she stopped at one with a snow-white curtain in a 
bright window. She knocked against the door, but receiving 
no answer, tried the latch and went in. A woman reduced by 
starvation or sickness to a mere skeleton was kneeling at a 

bedstead, which was the only article of furniture in the room. 

M 



i 9 4 PRA YER. 

She looked languidly at the lady, who without delay emptied 
the hamper on the ground — ham, pork-pie, tongue, &c. 

"I was told to give this away," said she, "and as I know no 
one here, I determined to leave it at the first clean house I 
came to." 

Instead of thanking or even answering her, the woman, still 
on her knees, raised her hands and said, " I thank Thee, O my 
Father; Thou knowest my need." 

A few minutes told her story. She had lost her husband 
after twenty weeks of fever. m Nursing him had reduced her 
strength and devoured her substance. She was too weak to 
work, and had been compelled to part with all her goods, 
piece by piece, to pay her rent and obtain bread. " I knew I 
could work if I had meat to nourish me," she said, "but where 
could I get it? — where?" she continued, "why from Him 
who sent it by you as I was asking Him to let me have some, 
unless it was His blessed will that I should go to the work- 
house." 



THE LOCUST PLAGUE AND PRAYER. 



IN ANSWER to a request for information as to the results 
which followed the observance of a day of fasting and 
prayer during the prevalence of the locust plague in 
Minnesota, the Presbyterian received the following from its 
well-known correspondent, " Itasca." It is, we believe the best 
account that has been published of facts, the remembrance 
of which should be carefully preserved: 

"The grasshoppers made their appearance in Minnesota 
about six years ago. They multiplied with great rapidity, 
and soon extended over a large portion of the State. Their 
depredations were great. Wherever they went they destroyed 
nearly every green thing. Before them the land was as the 
garden of Eden, and behind them a desolate wilderness. 
Every expedient that human ingenuity and the most matured 
science could suggest was resorted to, in the vain endeavor to 



PRA YER. 195 

destroy the locusts. Sheet-iron ' hopper-dozers,' covered with 
tar, were drawn across the fields, and millions of insects were 
thus captured and then burned. Poison, and fire, and water, 
and various kinds of destructive machinery were employed; 
but the number of the locusts was not appreciably diminished. 
The helplessness of man was demonstrated, and his pride 
humbled. The insect was mightier than he. All the material 
interests of the State were suffering, and hundreds of families 
were impoverished. Still the scourge had its own way, and it 
was evident that the next appeal must be made to Omnipo- 
tence. 

"Accordingly, the Governor appointed a day of fasting, 
humiliation, and prayer, calling upon all the people to ' beseech 
the mercy of God for the sins of the past, and His blessing 
on the worthier aims of the future.' Thursday, the 26th of 
April, 1877, was set apart for the purpose. The day was 
observed throughout the entire State. In Minneapolis and 
St. Paul, and in nearly every town and village, there was- a 
Sabbath stillness in all the streets. The solemnity that marked 
the religious exercises was great. The people were on their 
knees before God, and they pleaded with Him for His own 
name's sake. They felt that great as were the material interests 
involved, there were far greater interests at stake. Infidelity 
scoffingly asked, 'Where is your God?' Liberal leagues had 
made merry over the superstitiousness of people who, in this 
enlightened age, believed in the efficacy of prayer. Physical 
phenomena, it was declared, were beyond the control of man's 
supplication. A reflex influence upon those who prayed was 
admitted by some, but nothing more. 

" But what was the result ? The plague was not immediately 
terminated, and yet prayer was signally answered. That very 
night, entirely out of season, a snow storm swept across the 
State, and the moisture, succeeded by cold, destroyed myriads 
of young locusts and eggs just ready to reinforce the great 
army. The next morning prominent citizens, who had ridi- 
culed prayer were silent. The back-bone of infidelity was 
broken, and from that day to this there has not been heard, 



196 PR A YER. 

within my knowledge, a single sneering reference to prayer, 
although subsequent events seemed to encourage unbelief. 
The fact is not to be concealed, that for two months after the 
day of prayer the grasshoppers were still abundant. But the 
locusts were doomed. Great multitudes died, and those that 
lived until the middle of July, having done comparatively little 
harm meanwhile, suddenly took wings and disappeared. When 
last seen they were flying toward the West, and what became 
of them no one could tell. A few months later forty millions 
of wheat had been garnered or shipped to Eastern markets — 
a yield unprecedented in the history of the State, and perhaps 
never again to be equalled. 

" I have heard of men who were scoffing infidels before that 
day of prayer, who are devout believers now. A clergyman, 
who has traveled through that part of the State which suffered 
most from the plague, states that whole families are now iden- 
tified with Christian churches, that were entirely beyond the 
pale of evangelical religion before the people of God, on that 
memorable fast-day, settled the question of the efficacy of 
believing prayer. . . . Our experience confirms the Divine 
promise, and encourages our faith in God. By His power, in 
answer to prayer, He has stayed the destruction that wasted 
at noon-day." 



ANSWERED PRAYER. 



THERE lived a few years ago, in one of the villages of 
the West of England, a good old man, whose strong 
faith and love for God were conspicuous among the 
little band of Christians with whom he worshipped. 

Both Daniel P and his wife were very old and poor ; 

added to which the former was a great sufferer from asthma; 
yet, notwithstanding poverty and sickness, he was a bright and 
happy Christian. He was nearly always to be found, sitting 
in his old arm-chair, with the open Bible on a little round deal 
table close by his side, or at the prayer meeting, supplicating 



PRA YER. 197 

on behalf of his neighbors, and entreating the young men and 
women to give themselves to Christ. 

One cold winter's morning, before her husband had risen, 
Sallie went up-stairs to his room, saying: "Daniel, there's no 
bread in the house, and nothing at all for breakfast; I must 
take some of the rent money and go down to the shop." 

"No, Sallie," he said; "I have only just enough, and the 
man will call for it to-morrow." 

Sallie went away murmuring, while Daniel got up and 
dressed. When he went down-stairs, Sallie said: "Well, I'm 
sure I don't know what's to be done; nothing for breakfast, 
and dinner time coming presently." 

" Let's tell the dear Lord about it," said Daniel. So he took 
the old Bible, and to revive Sallie's drooping faith, read some 
of the promises therein contained, where our Father bids us 
trust Him at all times, and assures us of His continual and 
watchful care. Then the old couple knelt down while Daniel 
" told the Lord about it." 

The morning passed away, still no help. "Daniel," said 
Sallie, "let me go down to the shop and ask them to let us 
have a loaf, and trust us a few days." 

"No, Sallie," said Daniel; "we have never gone in debt yet, 
and we won't now. Trust the Lord, Sallie; He'll send help 
before bedtime." Afternoon wore away, and the daylight 
went; then Daniel said: "Put on the kettle, Sallie, and we'll 
pray while it is boiling." 

Again, on the strong wings of faith, his earnest prayer rose 
to the ear always ready to listen to the cry of His children. 
Scarcely had they risen from their knees, when a voice called 
from without, " Sallie ! Sallie!" She opened the door, and a 
woman stood near by with a heavy parcel in her hand. 

"This was left at the turnpike for you, Sallie, with orders 
to be sent on at once, and they asked me to bring it. Good- 
night!" 

When the parcel was opened, it was found to contain a 
package of tea — another of sugar, and a half-crown. 

"Praise the Lord," said Sallie; "now I'll get a loaf." 



198 PRAYER. 

"Wait a bit," said Daniel; "let us thank the Lord first." 
And once more the aged couple fell upon their knees, this 
time with full hearts, praising the prayer-hearing and prayer- 
answering God. 

Daniel never heard who sent them the timely aid; it was 
enough for him that " God did it." 



THE BOY'S PRAYER AND THE WATERSPOUT. 



IN APRIL of i860, the brig "Helen Jane," bound from 
St. Domingo, when well advanced on her course in the 
southern latitudes, was one day confronted with that fear- 
ful aqueous phenomena — sometimes so dangerous a foe to 
ships at sea — which was bearing down upon the vessel with 
great rapidity. The sails — for there was little or no wind — 
afforded no means of escape, and the firing off of a pistol, in 
the absence of any larger gun, could not produce a concussion 
of the mighty column of uplifted water from its threatening 
altitude. All now w r as consternation and confusion on board 
among both crew and passengers, of whom there were several, 
including three or four young children and their parents, per- 
sons of culture and education from a Massachusetts city. One 
of their little group, a boy of about ten years, noticing the 
captain's pale and terrified looks, and his pious mother with 
the rest in tears, with despair depicted on their faces, came up 
to her who had taught him from infancy to pray to the great 
God as "our Father in heaven," and our only Helper in time 
of trouble, and exclaimed in an earnest, yet composed voice, 
"Mamma, why don't you pray ! why don't you pray /" And 
then, without waiting for a reply, he knelt down in the midst 
of the trembling cabin company, and in a few simple words 
besought that Almighty Being, whom winds and waves and 
the whirlwind obey, to turn away the awful waterspout and 
mercifully save them from the impending danger. 

After his prayer, the child seemed to feel sure that the Lord 
would hear it and grant deliverance. Nor was he mistaken in 



PRA YER. 199 

his expectation of relief from the power of an overruling 
Providence. In a few moments the dark, seething, hissing, 
cloud-crested mass of waters passed harmlessly by, not touch- 
ing, yet almost grazing the vessel's side, so as to cause all to 
regard their escape as marvelous, and to realize that to God 
the Lord belonged all the praise. 

From that mother's still fresh memories of the scene, we 
have received the narrative given above. Her dear son's life- 
voyage ended in his early manhood, but not without the honor 
and the crowning grace of true religion. What has been here 
recorded is a just tribute to his memory, and a true story of a 
boy's great faith in God. 

SINGULAR ANSWERS TO PRAYER. 



THE person to whom this anecdote refers, when speaking 
to the writer of the goodness of God, said: "God never 
gave me what I wanted; He always gave me more. As 
a proof, I will tell you the following anecdote : 

"When I married, I was a workingman, and consequently, 
I had not much money to spare. In about three months after 
my marriage, I fell ill, and my illness continued for more than 
nine months. At that period I was in great distress. I owed 
a sum of money and had no means to pay it; it must be paid 
on a certain day or I must go to jail. I had no food for 
myself and wife ; and in this distress, I went up to my room 
and took my Bible. I got down on my knees, and opened it, 
laid my finger on several of the promises, and claimed them 
as mine. I said, ' Lord, this is Thine own word of promise ; I 
claim Thy promises.' I endeavored to lay hold of them by 
faith. I wrestled with God for some time in this way. I got 
up off my knees, and walked about some time. I then went 
to bed, and took my Bible, and opened it on these words, 
' Call upon Me in the time of trouble : I will deliver thee, and 
thou shalt glorify Me.' I said, 'It is enough, Lord.' I knew 
deliverance would come, and I praised God with my whole 
heart. Whilst in this frame of mind I heard a knock at the 



200 PR A YER. 

door. I went and opened it, and a man handed me a letter. 
I turned to look at the letter, and when I looked up again, the 
man was gone. The letter contained the sum I wanted, and 
five shillings over. It is now eighteen years ago, and I never 
knew who sent it. God only knows. Thus God delivered me 
out of all my distress. To Him be all the praise ! " 

G. A. was a very intimate acquaintance of mine, when he 

was living in the city of C . I heard the story which I 

am about to relate, from his own lips. He had been out of 
employment for a considerable* time, and was, in consequence, 
so circumstanced as only to be able to keep himself from 
dying of hunger; in fact, he was left with but eightpence half- 
penny in the world. Nor had he one " friend, but the Friend 
that "sticketh closer than a brother." He went to the chapel, 
thanking God for that which was past, and trusting Him for 
that which was to come, and heard Dr. Newton preach a 
sermon in aid of a society that v/as under perplexing circum- 
stances. Sensibly feeling the solemn appeal which the Doctor 
made to the liberality of the audience in behalf of the society, 
he at once gave the whole of his eightpence halfpenny. But 
he still trusted in Him who delivered the Israelites out of the 
hands of Pharoah. He rose the next morning penniless. But 
soon a message came to him, saying that he was to commence 
work that morning. He has been in constant employment 
ever since; and God, in His infinite goodness and mercy, has 
raised him to a state of respectability. Truly the words of the 
Lord were verified in this man : " Them that honor me I will 
honor." — I Sam. 2: 30. 



PRAY IN FAIR WEATHER. 



IN a recent number of a religious paper, an anecdote to this 
import is told. A number of years ago, a ship bound to 
New York, whilst far out in the ocean, suddenly encoun- 
tered a dreadful storm. All hands were called to take in sail 
and put the ship in the best trim to stand such a hurricane, 



PRA YER. 201 

and all seemed too few. At this moment one of the men, the 
most hardened, wicked person in the ship, was missing; the 
captain, himself an irreligious man, looked round for him and 
found him below, on his knees, repeating the Lord's prayer 
over and over again. Seizing him by the collar, the captain 
jerked him on his feet, and shouted with a voice heard even 
amid the roaring of the storm, "Say your prayers in fair 
weather." 

The ship, through the good management of the skillful 
mariners, and the blessing of a merciful God, was saved, and 
in a few days reached her port. The man who prayed in the 
storm was at once discharged, having been through his wick- 
edness a pest in the ship for the preceding fifteen months. 
But Divine Grace had touched him. The blunt speech of the 
captain, "Say your prayers in fair weather," seemed ever sound- 
ing in his ears, and deep distress for his past sins and present 
state came upon him. Through the mercy of God, and the 
cleansing baptisms of His Spirit, the work of regeneration 
went on, until the late hardened sinner became a child of the 
kingdom, an heir of God, and joint heir with Christ. 

On a certain occasion, years after this event, this man was 
engaged in preaching, and was surprised at seeing the captain, 
who had been made the instrument of good to him, sitting 
among his hearers. At once the scene of the storm came 
vividly before him, and with a voice so loud as to startle all 
present, he exclaimed, "Say your prayers in fair weather." 
When he had recovered in a measure his composure, he pro- 
ceeded to narrate the circumstance we have given above. The 
captain, on finding who the preacher was, and how it had 
pleased the Lord of mercy and loving-kindness, to make use 
of him, and his scornful exclamation, in turning a hardened 
sinner into a preacher of righteousness, was much affected. 
His mind was awakened, and Divine Grace operating therein, 
led him also forward in the path of purity and peace, until, 
through the baptisms of repentance and the renewing of the 
Holy Ghost, he too was made a partaker of the blessed hope 
of the Gospel of life and salvation. 



202 PRAYER. 

These words, "Pray in fair weather," so eminently blessed 
in these two instances, may well claim the serious consider- 
ation of each one of us. The paper in which the narrative is 
given, puts the inquiry to each of its readers, if they say their 
prayers in fair weather, or whether they wait until some storm, 
fraught with sorrow and danger, comes upon them, to drive 
them in anguish and terror to seek comfort and security in 
God. We have need to be doubly watchful and prayerful in 
times of prosperity. When God gives us most outward bless- 
ings, we are most likely to forget Him. Reader, whether it 
be fair weather or foul weather with thee, seek ever for the 
spirit of prayer; then, through a full surrender of thy own 
will to the Lord Jesus, His redeeming and sanctifying mercy 
will prepare thee to bear the afflictions of time without terror, 
and the blessings of prosperity without injury to thy immortal 
soul. 



THE INDIAN GIRL, HANNAH. 

A PRAYER TEST. 



TWO years after her conversion, one of the missionaries 
who was about to leave the country for a visit in Ohio, 
proposed to take Hannah along. She was exceedingly 
pleased with the idea, remarking that she had a great desire to 
visit the land from whence the Gospel came, as it must be 
almost the same there as heaven itself, as no doubt all the 
people there loved the Lord Jesus. Her mother and many of 
her other relatives were Christians, and readily gave their con- 
sent to her going; but her father, who was a great "medicine 
man," utterly refused to let her go, and declared further that 
in case she went and anything befell her, especially if she 
should die, he would revenge her death — the life of one of the 
missionaries should go for her life. 

On hearing this her mother and sisters endeavored to dis- 
suade her from going. On one occasion, I recollect, as her 
friends were representing the great trouble that would result 



PR A YER. 203 

if she should never return, she opened the Ojibwa Testament 
and read the first verse of the fourteenth chapter of John's 
Gospel, "Let not your heart be troubled," "That is enough," 
said she, "trust the whole matter in the hands of Jesus; He 
will take care of consequences. I am going to the white 
man's country, and I know that my father will do no injury to 
any one, though I never return. All that matter I have freely 
communicated to my God, and He has assured me that I may 
go, and He will see that only good will result from it." 

She went to Ohio in the spring, and was quite well until the 
close of the winter following, when she sickened and died. A 

few hours before her death, Barnard, who had the care 

of her, spoke of her father's threats, and expressed the fear 
that he would do some great evil to the missionaries. 

To this Hannah replied, " Do not give yourself any trouble 
about that. My father will do no violence to any one." She 
then remarked that she was full of joy and peace; that she 
already heard the songs of the happy ones in the other world: 

When the end came, she was informed that she had only a 
few minutes to live. Folding her hands, she said, "Let Thy 
kingdom now come and fill the earth" — and passed away leav- 
ing a sweet smile upon her countenance. A letter was sent to 
Red Lake informing us of her death. We were much affected, 
as were her friends. 

Her father was about one hundred miles away, hunting. 
He soon heard of his daughter's death and hastened home. 
Stopping when about four miles from us, he changed his hunt- 
ing attire and put on his war accoutrements. Then coming to 
the mission, he asked to have the families (three in all) gath- 
ered at our house. When all were in, he said, " Read me the 
letter." It was read, and all the particulars freely explained. 
Then stepping into the middle of the room, tomahawk in 
hand, he said: 

" I charge you with murder. You have murdered my 
daughter. She was my child, not yours; I loved her. You 
have broken my heart. I told you, if you took her away and 
anything should befall her, I would revenge it. I am full of 



204 PR A YER. 

courage. I do not fear your pale faces. I do not fear your 
great father in Washington. I do not fear the other Indians. 
My heart is strong, but I cannot hurt you. My strength is 
gone; my mind is changed. The Great Spirit will not suffer 
me to injure you. I am powerless. He spoke to me in a 
dream, and took away my strength to hurt you, so these 
women need not fear. My heart is strong, but I cannot lift up 
my hand to execute my threat; but don't call me a coward." 



THE STARVING CAPTAIN'S PRAYER. 



CAPTAIN H and crew sailed some time since from 
the port of . After having been at sea for several 

days, they were assailed by an unusually severe storm, 
which continued forty-five days and nights in succession. 
They were driven far from their course by the violence of the 
wind. Nature had become nearly exhausted by hard and long 
toiling; and to add to their affliction, famine began to threaten 
them with a death far more appalling than that of a watery 
grave. 

The captain had with him his wife, two daughters, and ten 
persons besides. As the provisions grew short, his wife became 
provident and careful of the pittance that fell to their family 
share. She would eat but little, lest her husband should 
starve. The children would eat but little, for fear the mother 
would suffer, and the captain refused to eat any, but left his 
portion for his suffering family. At length they were reduced 
to a scanty allowance for twenty-four hours, in the midst of a 
storm, and one thousand miles from land. Captain H. was a 
man who feared God. In this, his extremity, he ordered his 
steward to bring the remaining provision on deck, and spread 
the same on the tarpaulin which covers the hatch, and falling 
down beside the fragments of bread and meat before him, he 
lifted up his voice in prayer to Him who heareth out of the 
deep, and said, " O thou that didst feed Elijah by a raven while 
in the wilderness, and who commanded that the widow's cruise 



PR A YER. 205 

of oil and barrel of meal should not fail, look down upon us 
in out present distress, and grant that this food may be so 
multiplied that the lives now in jeopardy may be preserved." 
After this he arose from his knees, went to the companion- 
way and found his wife and children engaged in the same holy 
exercise. He exhorted them to pray on, and assured them 
that God had answered his prayer, and that not one soul on 
board should perish. Scarcely had he uttered the words, when 
his mate, who had been at the mast-head for some time on the 
look-out, exclaimed, " Sail O ! sail O ! " At this crisis the 
captain shouted with swelling gratitude, " What, has God sent 
the ravens already!" — and in one hour from that time, through 
the friendly sail, barrels of bread and meat were placed upon 
the deck. 

"Thus one thing secures us, whatever betide; 
The Scripture assures us the Lord will provide." 



THE CHILDREN'S COW RESTORED. 



A RECENT traveler was shown a very large meteoric 
stone in the Mineralogical Cabinet at Vienna, con- 
nected with which the following singular facts were- 
related : 

A man residing in Croatia, had a large family of young 
children depending upon him. His means were very small, 
but he possessed a good cow, which furnished almost all the 
nourishment by which the younger portion of the household 
was sustained. At last, this highly valued, much loved and 
much needed animal died, leaving the family disconsolate and 
almost destitute. The poor afflicted man was inconsolable, and 
speaking to a religious friend on the subject, he let him know 
that he did not see how his children could get along, as their 
principal support was taken away. In his sorrow he seemed 
ready to murmur at this dispensation of Providence, but his 
friend checked him, saying: "Do not do so, pray and work on, 
in hope and trust God may, perhaps, send you another cow." 



206 PRA YER. 

The man, by dint of hard work, supported his family. He 
had faith in the mercy of his Almighty Caretaker, but if he 
looked for the other cow spoken of, without doubt he found it 
long in coming. 

A year of privation, we may trust cheerfully borne by the 
poor man, passed away, when one day an immense round stone 
fell from the air, and struck the ground immediately before the 
door of the cottage. When the fright caused by the incident 
had subsided, he felt the stone and found it quite hot. Little 
did he imagine that in that stone was the answer to his prayers 
on behalf of his children. So, however, it proved ! Convinced 
that the stone could be no common one, he had it hoisted into 
a cart and conveyed to a neighboring town. There it was 
recognized as meteoric, and being sent to Vienna, the emperor 
purchased it of the poor man, paying him for it five hundred 
florins, which would have procured for him a number of cows. 
Whilst thankfully looking up to his Heavenly Father as the 
giver of every good gift, he without doubt felt rejoiced, that 
instead of the cow he had asked for his children, he had 
received a stone. 



THE WIFE'S PRAYER. 



A NOTABLE instance of praying to God, and resolving 
to take no denial, and prevailing when hope seemed 
gone, was that of the pious wife of a hard-drinking 
man, named Martin, in West Riding, Yorkshire, England, who 
prayed twenty-one years for his reformation and conversion. 

When that long time had passed, and no answer had come 
to her prayers, she went one night at midnight, to the "public" 
where her husband spent much of his time, and found him sit- 
ting in the bar-room, with several other men and the landlady. 
"You go home," said Martin, roughly, when he saw his wife 
enter. 

" Wait a little, and your husband will go with you," said the 
landlady. 

" Tolman," replied the poor wife, advancing to the table 



PR A YER. 207 

where they were sitting, " I have waited twenty-one years for 
my husband to ' go with me ' — and all that time I have prayed 
for him." She steadied her voice and added: "I am certain, 
too, that God will answer my prayers. As sure as he is sitting 
in your bar, I shall live to see him pass your house and have 
no inclination to go in." She turned to go out, and Martin 
rose and followed her, saying not a word. 

That night was the turning-point in his life. The long-felt 
promise to the heart of the pious wife that her husband should 
"go with her" began to fulfill her patient waiting. He went to 
meeting with her, and was melted by a sermon on the words, 
"Where thou goest, I will go; . . . thy people shall be my 
people, and thy God my God." He went with her on the road 
to life, and helped to lead their children in the narrow way. 



A MOTHER'S PRAYER. 



A WEATHER-BEATEN sailor, on making his homeward 
passage, as he doubled the stormy Cape, encountered 
a dreadful tempest. The mother had heard of his 
arrival outside of the Cape; she was awaiting with the anxiety 
a mother alone can know, to see her son. But now the storm 
had arisen, and when the ship was in the most dangerous place, 
fearing that each blast, as it swept the raging deep, might howl 
the requiem of her son, with faith strong in God, she com- 
menced praying for his safety. At this moment news came 
that the vessel was lost. 

The father, an unconverted man, had till this time preserved 
a sullen silence, but now he wept aloud. The mother observed, 
"It is in the hands of Him who does all things well;" and 
again the subdued and softened spirit bowed, commending her 
son and her partner, in an audible voice, broken only by the 
bursting of a full heart, to God. 

Darkness had now spread her mantle abroad, and they retired, 
but not to rest, and anxiously awaited for the morning, hoping, 
at least, that some relic of their lost one might be found. 



208 PRA YER. 

The morning came. The winds were hushed, and the ocean 
lay comparatively calm, as though its fury had subsided since 
its victim was no more. At this moment the little gate in front 
of the dwelling turned on its hinges; the door opened; and 
their son, their lost, loved son, stood before them. The vessel 
had been driven into one of the many harbors on the coast, 
and was safe. The father rushed to meet him. His mother, 
hanging on his neck, earnestly exclaimed, "My child, how 
came you here ? " 

" Mother," said he, as the tears coursed down his sun-burnt 
face, "I knew you'd pray me home !" 

What a spectacle ! A wild, reckless youth acknowledging 
the efficacy of prayer ! It seems he was aware of his perilous 
situation, and that he labored with the thoughts — u My mother 
prays — Christian prayers are answered, and I may be saved." 
This reflection, when almost exhausted with fatigue, and ready 
to give up in despair, gave him fresh courage, and with 
renewed effort he labored till the harbor was gained. Christian 
mother, go thou and do likewise. Pray for that son, who is 
likely to be wrecked in the storm of life; and his prospects 
blasted forever. He may be saved. 

A SISTER'S PRAYER. 



IN THE autumn of 1865, a young woman, whose renewed 
and humble heart was earnestly seeking to be led in all 
the ways of the Lord, felt herself directed to leave the 
home of her childhood among the mountains of New England, 
and for awhile take up her abode with a Christian family in 
another section of the country. She was one of a family of 
children who were now scattered. One was in the North, 
another in the East, a third in the South, while a fourth, a 
beloved eldest brother, for many months had been roaming 
the wide West, she knew not where. 

Long accustomed to these separations, the sharpness of 
former anxieties for the absent ones had become abated, and 
with a cheerful and strong heart she went about the duties of 



PR A YER. 209 

her new- home, only thinking occasionally and quietly of those 
dear brothers and sisters, whose paths had so far diverged 
from each other, and from their common home. 

But one evening, when the toils of the day were ended, and 
the little family which was then under her charge, had gathered 
together, for an evening of quiet rest and conversation, a wild, 

uncontrollable and unaccountable yearning toward E' , the 

wandering brother, came over her. She could think of noth- 
ing else. Let her conversation turn as it might, E would 

come up in her thoughts, and force himself upon her lips. 
Thus impelled to speak of him, she commenced relating his 
history, telling of his roamings and his adventures, talking of 
his virtues and excusing his faults, till the time arrived for 
retirement. 

She went to her repose, but she could not sleep. In vain 
she turned upon the bed and tried to calm herself to rest. At 

length she felt urged to get up and pray for E . But 

doubting at first whether this was really an impression from 
the Lord, or only the result of her own nervousness and fear, 
she delayed to yield to the silent prompting, till the conviction 
forced itself upon her with such power that further hesitation 
seemed a sin. She accordingly arose, and poured out the 
abundance of her burdened heart before the Lord, specially 

and earnestly pleading that wherever E was, if he were in 

any danger, the Lord would graciously deliver him and spare 
his life. She laid down again, hoping to rest, but the same 
agony of spirit returned. Visions of horror, and danger, and 
death flitted before her, till again she felt herself impelled to 

arise and pray for E . She did so, once more entreating 

the Lord for his safety, and committing his soul to the keeping 
of Him who neither slumbereth nor sleepeth. She sought her 
pillow, but only to arise again, and pray as before. And thus 
passed that night in alternate tossing and praying, till the 
morning dawned; when the strange, afflicting experience van- 
ished. For weeks following she remembered that night as a 
sad thing of the past, gradually settling back into her former 
quiet and submissive way of thinking of her brother. 

N 



210 PRAYER. 

In a few weeks there came a letter from E , the first 

tidings that had been received for months. He wrote from 
one of the extreme Southern States, and his letter unraveled 
the mystery of that memorable night. By comparing dates, 
to her surprise and awe, the sister learned that while she was 
wrestling before the Lord in agony and tears for her brother's 
safety, he, in that distant State, and an almost friendless stran- 
ger, in the small, uncomfortable office in a business house, lay 
dreadfully ill, and given over to death. His only attendant was 
a clerk in the establishment,«who waited upon the sufferer as 
he could snatch a few moments from the rush and hurry of 
business, while a horde of merciless and gold-thirsting men 
were around them, pressing their claims to the very gates of 
death, till the sick and weary man, after tremblingly writing 
his signature, as for the last time, had laid himself back on his 
rude bed to die. But contrary to every expectation, he had 
survived, and suddenly and speedily grew better, to the sur- 
prise of those who had known his extreme illness and danger. 
Little knowing of his sister's wrestling before the Lord on his 

behalf, E had sent this record of his recovery to her. 

E is still living, grateful indeed for a sister's loving care 

and prayerful remembrance. 

As she recalls the holy ministry to which the Spirit of the 
Lord was pleased to direct her on that memorable night, she 
still desires to bear witness to the safety and blessing which 
ever attends those who follow the Lord's wondrous leadings 
with contrite and believing hearts. 



THE CAPTAIN'S PRAYER. 



CAPTAIN MITCHELL K was from early life accus- 
tomed to the sea. He commanded a merchant ship 
that sailed from Philadelphia. After his marriage he 
again went to sea, and one day committed to writing, while in 
a highly devotional frame of mind, a prayer for the temporal 
and eternal happiness of his beloved wife and unborn babe. 



PRAYER. 211 

This prayer, nearly filling a sheet of paper, was deposited with 
his other writings, at the bottom of an old oak chest The 
captain died before the completion of the voyage, in the year 
1757, and his instruments, papers, etc., were returned to his 
wife. Finding they were generally what she could not under- 
stand, she locked up the chest for the inspection and use of 
her babe, who proved to be a son, at some future period. 

At eighteen this son entered the army, and in 1775 marched 
for Boston. He gave the reins to his lusts, and for many 
years yielded to almost every temptation to sin. At last he 
was called to the death bed of his mother, who gave him the 
key of his father's chest, which, however, he did not open, 
lest he should meet with something of a religious kind that 
would reprove his sins and harass his feelings. 

At length in 18 14, when in his fifty-sixth year, he deter- 
mined to examine its contents. When he reached the bottom, 
he discovered a paper neatly folded, and endorsed, " The prayer 

of Mitchell K for blessings on his wife and child, August 

23, 1757." He read it. The scene, the time, the place and 
circumstances under which it was written and put there, all 
rushed upon his mind and overwhelmed him; for often had 
his widowed mother led him to the beach and pointed to him 
the direction on the horizon where she had traced the last 
glimpse of flowing canvas that bore his father from her, never 
to return. He threw the contents back into the chest, folded 
up the prayer, and put it into the case with his father's 
quadrant, locked up the chest, and determined never again to 
unlock it. 

But his father's prayer still haunted his imagination, and he 
could not forget. His distress then became extreme, and a 
woman with whom he sinfully lived entreated to know the 
cause. He looked on her with wildness, and replied, " I can- 
not tell you." This only increased her solicitude; he entreated 
her to withdraw; as she left the room she cast an anxious and 
expressive look on him, and he instantly called her back. He 
then, with all the feelings which an awakened guilty conscience 
could endure, told her the cause of his agonies — his father's 



212 PRAYER. 

prayer found in the old chest. She thought him deranged; 
his neighbors were called in to comfort him, but in vain. The 
prayer had inflicted a wound which the great Physician of 
souls only could heal. From that period he became an altered 
man, and lived and died an humble, exemplary Christian. 



PRAYING MARY. 



A NUMBER of ministers were assembled for discussion 
of difficult questions, and among others it was asked, 
how the command to "pray without ceasing" could be 
complied with. Various suppositions were started, and at 
length one of the number was appointed to write an essay 
upon it, to be read at the next monthly meeting; which being 
overheard by a plain, sensible servant girl, she exclaimed, 
" What ! a whole month wanted to tell the meaning of that 
text ! It is one of the easiest and best texts in the Bible." 

"Well, well," said an old minister, "Mary, what can you say 
about it? let us know how you understand it; can you pray 
all the time?" 
" O, yes, sir." 

"What! when you have so many things to do?" 
" Why, sir, the more I have to do, the more I can pray." 
"Indeed! well, Mary, do let us know how it is; for most 
people think otherwise." 

" Well, sir," said the girl, " when I first open my eyes in the 
morning, I pray, Lord, open the eyes of my understanding; 
and while I am dressing, I pray that I may be clothed with the 
robe of righteousness; and when I have washed me, I ask for 
a washing of regeneration; and as I begin to work, I pray that 
I may have strength equal to my day ; when I begin to kindle 
up the fire, I pray that God's work may revive in my soul; 
and as I sweep out the house, I pray that my heart may be 
cleansed of all impurities; and while preparing and partaking 
of breakfast, I desire to be fed with the hidden manna, and the 
sincere milk of the word; and as I am busy with the little 



PRAYER. 213 

children, I look up to God as my father and pray for the spirit 
of adoption, that I may be His child; and so on, all day, 
everything I do, furnishes me with a thought for prayer." 

"Enough, enough," cried the old divine, "these things are 
revealed to babes, and often hid from the wise and prudent; 
go on, Mary," said he, "'pray without ceasing;' and as for us, 
my brethren, let us bless the Lord for this exposition, and 
remember that 'the meek will He guide in judgment.'" 



DREAMS 



SOME persons pay a superstitious respect to dreams, which 
are but the unbalanced and unrestrained operation of the 
mind, when the controlling power of reason is wholly or 
partially at rest. Yet there is abundant evidence that it does 
please the Almighty Dispenser of wisdom, sometimes to speak 
to man in the vision of the night, when the head is reclining 
in slumber. Such dreams are accompanied in the waking 
hours which follow, with an impression that a lesson is to be 
learned from them ; and have often been a means of conveying 
instruction, warning, or comfort. 

In the Philadelphia Methodist, within a few years, an account 
was published by Joseph Mason, of a member of the congre- 
gation with which he was connected, who had been awakened 
to a , sense of her condition by a remarkable dream, and who 
became an exemplary and devoted Christian. She dreamed a 
man of remarkable beauty and heavenliness, dressed in the 
purest white, came to her, and said he had come to take her 
along with him. Immediately he began to ascend, and she, as 
though attracted by a magnet, began to follow without effort 
They seemed to ascend in the air, and after they had proceeded 
for a considerable distance, she heard in the distance the most 
enchanting music. She listened, and asked her attendant what 
the music was. He answered, "The song of the heavenly 
host." She desired him to take her nearer. "No," said he, 



216 DREAMS. 

"you are not prepared for that." He then began to descend, 
she still being attracted as before. They went down, down, as 
though into a deep, dark pit, until they came to what appeared 
like a trap-door, which flew open as they approached, when 
she heard the most awful groans and lamentations, where there 
was, as it were, a sea of flame. She saw several walking amid 
the flames, who appeared to be in the greatest agony, yet 
unconsumed. Among them was a tall man, wrapped in a 
large cloak, who seemed to be walking to and fro, and every 
time he approached them, he 'gnashed his teeth. She asked 
her guide what was the matter with this man. He told her to 
ask him when he came near.- When he came near again, she 
asked him the cause of his agony, when he suddenly opened 
his cloak, and his whole person was as though it was a blazing 
furnace of fire. She asked her guide what place that was. 
"The place," said he, "for which you are prepared, and to 
which you will soon go unless you change your life." Terri- 
fied beyond description, she begged him to take her away from 
that awful place, and in her agony, and effort to escape, she 
awoke. 

Such was the effect of the dream upon her, that she yielded 
to the heavenly visitation, and was enabled, by the grace of 
God, to deny all her former evil works and to live soberly, 
righteously and godly. Well was it for her that she expe- 
rienced this change while in health — for, years after, being 
unwell, she called at her physician's office for advice and medi- 
cine, and while he was preparing the medicine, he heard a 
noise as of something falling, and turned to see the cause, and 
there she lay insensible on the floor, and in a few minutes she 
had passed away. 

In the Illustrated Christian Weekly ', there is published, by 
John E. Edwards, an account of a very remarkable dream of 
a woman who lived at Petersburg, Va., and who is described 
as a woman of more than ordinary intelligence. The writer 
says: 

" She was a married woman, and the mother of four children 
at the time of the occurrence of the incident which I now 



DREAMS. 217 

relate. The writer received the story from her own lips before 
she was called away from earth. She died at an advanced age, 
having adorned her Christian profession by a life of exemplar}- 
piety. 

" Martha, her eldest child, was a beautiful girl at the time 
referred to, being about fourteen years of age. She was her 
mother's idol, though her mother was unconscious of the 
fact. Handsome in person, sweet in disposition, gentle in her 
manners, and withal devotedly attached to her mother, she 
occupied a supreme place in her affections. Just as she was 
verging on womanhood she was taken ill, and gradually grew 
from bad to worse. The most assiduous care in the way of 
nursing, and the most constant attention of the skillful physi- 
cian failed to arrest the disease. The mother was frantic in 
her grief as it became apparent that Martha must die. Amid 
all, the sweet girl was calm, patient and resigned. At last the 
death-angel came and released the wan and wasted sufferer 
from the grasp of disease. 

"The mother was positively inconsolable. Nothing could 
allay the bitter anguish of her broken heart. She lost her 
appetite, refused to take her food, sleep deserted her pillow, 
and gradually she wasted away almost to a skeleton. She 
wept until she had no more tears to weep. Her friends 
exhausted every device to divert her mind from the painful 
subject. It seemed she must w T aste away and die. 

"In this state of mind, late one night, she fell asleep, with a 
few stray tear-drops on her shrivelled cheek. Her sleep was 
fitful for awhile, and then she fell into a profound slumber, and 
sleeping she dreamed. Suddenly, as she related the vision to 
me, a bright and beautiful angel, clothed in the habiliments of 
light, appeared to her, and, in a sweet and winning voice, 
tenderly asked, ' Would you see Martha ? ' 

" Instantly she responded, ' Yes ; above all things in the uni- 
verse, I would see her.' 

" ' Then follow me,' said the heavenly visitant. 

" She arose and followed her guide without a word of further 
inquiry. Presently a stately and magnificent edifice greeted her 



2i3 DREAMS. 

wondering and half-bewildered gaze. The door of entrance 
was open. She ascended the steps and entered the resounding 
hall, followed closely behind the angel, not knowing whither 
he would lead her. Without even casting a glance behind or 
saying a word, suddenly the angel paused, and with his ethe- 
real finger touched a secret spring. Noiselessly a door swung 
wide open and revealed the inmates to her astonished gaze. 
There was a throng of excited revellers, in the midst of 
bacchanalian excesses, flushed with wine, and presenting a 
revolting scene of debauchery*' and worldly dissipation. The 
angel pointed his white index finer at the most conspicuous 
figure in the group, the one who led the dance and was most 
boisterous in the mirth and festive glee, and then turning his 
eye on the mother, said, ' There is Martha, behold her ! ' 

" The mother passionately exclaimed, ' No, No ! that is not 
Martha ! I was raising her for God, and for His church, and 
for heaven. That is not Martha.' 

"'So you thought,' responded the angel in tenderest accents, 
'but she was your idol. You could deny her nothing. That 
is what she would have been.' The door closed. 'Follow 
me,' said the angel. 

" She followed with a palpitating heart. Her mind was filled 
with anxious and painful thought. The angel paused and 
again touched a secret spring, and the door flew open as if on 
golden hinges. Before her enraptured eyes there was displayed 
a vast multitude of the most resplendent forms she had ever 
conceived of in human mold. Brows of lustrous beauty, faces 
radiant with supernatural light, voices sweetly modulated, and 
all enrobed in spotless white. Not a trace of sorrow was on 
any face. It was heaven, and the angel, pointing to the joyous 
and happy throng, said, turning his glad eye on the mother, 
'There is Martha as she is.' 

" The dreamer awoke, but awoke from that dream in unut- 
terable ecstacy— she awoke praising God. And in relating 
this dream she said to the writer, ' Dream though it was, to me 
it was an apocalypse. I brushed away my tears. My heart 
was relieved of its sorrow, and I now believe, a*nd have long 



DREAMS. 219 

believed, that Martha's death was best for her, and best for her 
mother.' " 



CAPTAIN YONNT'S DREAM. 



A STRIKING instance of Providential deliverance is nar- 
rated by Horace Bushnell in his work on "Nature and 
the Supernatural, as together constituting the one sys- 
tem of God." 

"As I sat by the fire," says this writer, " one stormy night, 
in a hotel parlor in the Napa Valley, California, there came in 
a most venerable and benignant looking person, with his wife, 
taking their seats in the circle. The stranger, as I afterward 
learned, was Captain Yonnt, a man who came over into Cali- 
fornia as a trapper, more than forty years ago. Here he has 
lived apart from the great world and its questions, acquiring 
an immense landed estate, and becoming a kind of acknowl-' 
edged patriarch in the country. 

"In the course of conversation, he related the following 
incident in his experience. About six or seven years previous, 
in a midwinter's night, he had a dream, in which he saw what 
appeared to be a company of emigrants arrested by the snows 
of the mountains, and perishing rapidly from cold and hunger. 
He noted the very cast of the scenery, marked by a huge 
perpendicular front of a white rock cliff; he saw the men cut- 
ting off what appeared to be tree-tops rising out of deep gulfs 
of snow; he distinguished the very features of the persons 
and the look of their particular distress. He awoke profoundly 
impressed with the distinctness and apparent reality of his 
dream. At length he fell asleep and dreamed exactly the same 
dream again. In the morning he could not expell it from his 
mind. Falling in shortly with an old hunter comrade, he told 
him the story, and was only the more deeply impressed by his 
recognizing, without hesitation, the scenery of the dream. 

"This comrade came over the Sierra by the Carson Valley 
Pass, and declared that a spot in the pass answered axactly to 



220 DREAMS. 

his description. By this the unsophisticated patriarch was 
decided. He immediately collected a company of men, with 
mules, and blankets, and all necessary provisions. The neigh- 
bors were laughing, meantime, at his credulity. 'No matter,' 
said he ; ' I am able to do this, and I will, for I verily believe 
that the fact is according to my dream.' The men were sent 
into the mountains, one hundred and fifty miles distant, directly 
to the Carson Valley Pass. And there they found the com- 
pany in exactly the condition of the dream, and brought in 
the remnant alive. 

"A gentleman present said, 'You need have no doubt of 
this, for we Californians all know the facts, and the names of 
the families brought in, who now look upon our venerable 
friend as a kind of saviour.' These names he gave, and the 
places where, they reside, and I found out afterward that the 
California people were ready everywhere to second his testi- 
mony." 



WARNING BY A DREAM. 



R 



ALPH W. WOOD, a young English resident in India, 
returned to his native country about the year 1781. 
He took with him his eldest daughter, leaving his wife 
and three youngest children in India, who were to follow him 
sometime in the next year. When the time had nearly arrived, 
she expected to take passage in the Grosvenor, which was 
announced to sail in the Sixth month, 1782. The children 
remaining with her— the oldest being but five years of age — 
were an anxious care for their mother to undertake during the 
voyage, long as it then was from India to England. 

While making preparations for her departure, she was 
troubled by a dream of the shipwreck of the vessel. The 
impression would probably have faded away, had not the 
dream occurred a second and a third time before the vessel 
sailed. She then visited the captain, and informed him of her 
dream, and of her efforts not to allow herself to be influenced 



DREAMS. 221 

by it, until its repetition so impressed her mind, that she had 
resolved that he must sail without her. The friends who were 
to have accompanied her on the voyage, endeavored by reason- 
ing and ridicule to induce her to change her mind. The 
women especially were urgent, but her resolution was not to 
changed, and she was left behind. 

The Grosvenor sailed on the thirteenth of Sixth month, and 
on the fourth of Eighth month she struck upon the rocks on 
the coast of Africa, some distance from the Cape of Good 
Hope. In the attempt to land the crew and passengers, nine- 
teen men lost their lives; the remainder reached the inhospita- 
ble shore. The next morning the natives came upon them, and 
carried off all they could lay their hands on, without actually 
plundering their persons. They then determined to journey 
by land to the Cape, and started upon this expedition under 
the command of Captain Coxon. They were followed by the 
natives, who continually plundered and insulted them. On 
one occasion they were attacked by a party of more than three • 
hundred Kaffirs armed for war. A number of them were 
wounded, but no lives lost. Peace having been made at 
length, they pursued their journey. A few days later, the 
natives came upon them again, and robbed them of everything 
valuable, including flint, steel, and tinder-box, which had been 
useful in kindling fires at night. - The distressed party after- 
ward divided into two bands, half of them traveling inland, 
and the rest by the sea-shore. Those who took the inland 
way, were soon compelled by hunger to return to the coast, 
where they could procure shell-fish, which was their principal 
article of food. After enduring these dreadful privations, at 
the expiration of one hundred and seventeen days, only a 
small portion of their number succeeded in reaching a settle- 
ment near the Cape, where they were kindly cared for by the 
Dutch government, although it was then engaged in war with 
England. 

When the news of the loss of the Grosvenor reached 
England, R. W. Wood gave up his family for lost. At the 
end of six months, being on a visit to his wife's mother, a 



222 . DREAMS. 

carriage drove to the door. It contained his wife and three 
children. His joy at thus again beholding them was almost 
overpowering. The faithful wife, with her usual energy and 
decision of character, had hastened from the vessel which had 
brought her safely to her native land, to be the first to commu- 
nicate to him their safety. She had only waited for the next 
ship that sailed, a Danish East-Indiaman, and then safely 
returned to her husband, to unite with him and her children, 
in thanking Him who in mercy had so wonderfully warned 
and preserved them from impeading dangers. 






ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 



THE HAPPY NEGRO. 



M 



ANY years ago an English gentleman had occasion to 
visit North America, where the following circumstance 
occurred, which is thus related in his own words: 
"Every day's observation convinces me that the children of # 
God are made so by His own especial Grace; and that' all 
means are equally effectual with Him, whenever He is pleased 
to employ them for conversion. 

" In one of my excursions while I was in the State of New 
York, I was walking by myself over a considerable plantation, 
amused with its husbandry, and comparing it with that of my 
own country, till I came within a little distance of a middle- 
aged negro, who was tilling the ground. I felt a strong incli- 
nation, unusual with me, to converse with him. After asking 
him some little questions about his work, which he answered 
in a sensible manner, I asked him to tell me whether his state 
of slavery was not disagreeable to him, and whether he would 
not gladly be at liberty. 

"'Massa,' said he, looking seriously upon me, 'I have a wife 
and children; my massa take care of them, and I have no care 
to provide anything. I have a good massa, who teaches me 
to read; and I read good book, that makes me happy.' 'I am 
glad,' replied I, 'to hear you say so, and pray what is the good 
book you read?' 'The Bible, massa — God's own book.' 'Do 



224 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

you understand, friend, as well as read this book ? — for many 
can read the words well, who cannot get hold of the true and 
good sense.' 

" ' O massa,' said he, ' I read the book much before I under- 
stand; but, at last, I felt pain in my heart; I found things in 
the book that cut me to pieces.' 'Ah!' said I, 'and what 
things were they?' 'Why, massa, I found that I had bad 
heart, massa — a very bad heart indeed. I felt pain that God 
would destroy me, because I was wicked, and done nothing as 
I should do. God was holy, and I was very vile and naughty; 
I could have nothing from Him but fire and brimstone in hell.' 

" In short, he entered into a full account of his convictions 
of sin, which were indeed as deep and piercing as almost any 
I had ever heard of; and what Scriptures came to his mind, 
which he had read, that both probed to the bottom of his sin- 
ful heart, and were made the means of light and comfort to 
his soul. I then inquired of him what ministry or means he 
made use of, and found that his master was a plain sort of 
man, who had taught his slaves to read, but who had not con- 
versed with this negro upon the state of his soul. 

" I asked him, likewise, how he got comfort under all this 
trial. ' O massa,' said he, ' it was Christ gave me comfort by 
His dear word. He bade me come unto Him, and He would 
give me rest, for I was very weary and heavy laden.' And 
here he repeated a number of the most precious texts in the 
Bible, showing by his artless comment upon them, as he went 
along, what great things God had done in the course of some 
years for his soul. 

" Being more acquainted with doctrinal truths and the Bible, 
than he had been, or could easily be, I had a mind to try. how 
far a simple experience, graciously given without the usual 
means, could preserve a man from error; and I therefore asked 
him several questions about the merit of works, the power of 
Grace, and the like. I own I was as much astonished at, as I 
aclmired the sweet spirit and simplicity of his answers, with 
the heavenly wisdom that God had put into the mind of this 
negro. 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 225 

" His discourse, flowing merely from the richness of Grace, 
with a tenderness and expression far ' beyond the reach of art,' 
perfectly charmed me. On the other hand, my entering into 
all his feelings, together with an account to him, which he had 
never heard before, that thus and thus the Lord, in His mercy, 
dealt with all His children, and had dealt with me, drew 
streams of joyful tears down his black face, and we looked 
upon each other, and talked with that inexpressible glow of 
Christian affection, that made me more than ever believe, what 
I have often too thoughtlessly professed to believe, the com- 
munion of saints. 

"I shall never forget how the poor creature seemed to hang 
upon my lips, and to eat my very words, when I enlarged 
upon the love of Christ to poor sinners, the free bounty and 
tender mercy of God, the frequent and delightful sense He 
gives of His presence, the faith He bestows in His promises, 
the victories this faith is enabled to get over trials and tempta- 
tions, the joy and peace in believing, the hope in life and death, 
and the glorious expectation of immortality. To have seen 
his eager, delighted, animated air and manner, would have 
cheered and warmed any Christian's heart, and have been a 
masterpiece for any painter. 

"He had never heard such a discourse, nor found the oppor- 
tunity of hearing it before. He seemed like a man who had 
been thrown into a new world, and had at length found com- 
pany. Though the conversation lasted, at least, two or three 
hours, I scarcely ever enjoyed the happy swiftness of time so 
sweetly in all my life. We knew not how to part. He would 
accompany me as far as he might; and I felt, on my side, such 
a delight in the artless, solid, unaffected experience of this 
pious soul, that I would have been glad to have seen him 
oftener then, or to see his like at any time now, but my situa- 
tion rendered it impossible. 

" I therefore took an affectionate leave, with feelings equal to 
those of the warmest and most ancient friendship; telling him, 
that neither the color of his body, nor the condition of his 
present life, could prevent him from being my dear brother in 



226 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

our dear Saviour; and that though we must part now, never 
to see each other again in this world, I had no doubt of our 
having another joyful meeting in our Father's home, where we 
should live together, and love each other, throughout a long 
and happy eternity. 'Amen, dear massa; God bless you, and 
poor me too, forever and ever.' 

"If I had been an angel from heaven, he could not have 
received me with more evident delight than he did; nor could 
I have considered him with a more sympathetic regard, if he 
had been a long-known Christian of the good old sort, grown 
up into my affection in the course of many years." 



UNCLE JOHNSON. 

THE PILGRIM OF SIX SCORE YEARS. 



UNCLE JOHNSON, the subject of the following narrative, 
was born in Virginia, it is believed, about the year 1745. 
His death took place in the year 1864, in his one hun- 
dred and twentieth year. The account here given is chiefly an 
abridgment of a pamphlet, written by one who lived near him 
for many years. 

"Since the death of Uncle Johnson, we have thought of 
many things concerning that venerable relic of a former gener- 
ation, things of so much interest to us, that we are constrained 
to tell them to others. He was one of our most intimate 
neighbors for years, living in an humble cabin upon a lot 
which joined the back end of our own. From our study 
window we could look down upon his garden, and in the 
summer season, we had no difficulty in being familiar with the 
tenor of his life. 

"Before Uncle Johnson* came to dwell in the cabin it 
changed its occupants frequently, and at each change we were 
glad and hopeful. Hearing that the place had now been 

* He was of pure African descent. His full name was Johnson Harrison — 
the Harrison, as he said, being his master's name in Virginia, and the Johnson 
his own. For this reason he preferred being called Johnson. 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 227 

purchased by a colored man, though free from any special 
prejudice against his race, our hopes on the score of good 
neighborhood were not raised high. 

"We soon found that we were subject to no annoyance from 
the cabin; that all was quiet and orderly there. We heard 
little except that at times, more frequent than morning and 
evening, the voice of praise and prayer ascended with a pecu- 
liar fervor from within its walls. Listening once to these 
sounds, we heard these words: 

"'0 Lord, dy servant has been a pilgrim more dan a hundred 
years, when will he get home ? ' 

" Such a declaration induced us to think that our new neigh- 
bor might be both an aged and good man. At any rate it led 
to an intimate acquaintance, in which we found that in both 
of these respects he was a man most rare. 

"When about thirty years of age he was allowed to have a 
wife. He lived with her fifty years ; then for several years had 
no wife, and his last wife, who died two years before him, said 
that she had lived with him twenty-eight years. He also 
stated that he was set free by his last master and sent to 
Canada, partly because he was more than one hundred years 
old, and by right of age deserved to be his own man. He 
delighted in telling of the scenes of his early life, and his 
narrations would so accord with the pages of history, as to 
make it evident that he had lived as far off from the present 
as he asserted. Certainly he was a wonderful man as an ' ante- 
revolutionary relic' 

" But he was still more interesting and wonderful because of 
his religion. He accounted for his long life in part by saying, 
' I neber work bery hard. When I was a boy I chored 'bout 
house, and den for about sixty years I blowed de Gospel 
trumpet on de plantation for 'bout six months ob de year, to 
make de slaves good and 'ligious, and I tell ye, massa, when I 
was in my prime, say long 'bout eighty, I could blow de old 
trumpet so dat dey could hear me for miles.' His own account 
of his early religious knowledge and experience was about as 
follows : 



228 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

" ' I was quite a chunk of a boy afore I hearn much about 
dis glorious Gospel. 

" ' Once in 'bout a year one o' dem clergy dat com'd ober de 
big water, com'd round and preached up all de funerals ob de 
slaves dat died sen he com'd afore, and sometimes I feels very 
bad den. But after a bit dere com'd round one ob de big men 
from de college in de Jarseys, and he telled us 'bout de matter 
werry solemn. But I know nothing den about Jesus.' And 
now the tears began to trickle down the old man's cheeks. 

" 'An' den dar com'd along dat man dat died an' den com'd 
to life again, an' he telled de slaves 'bout Jesus. Oh, wat was 
he name ? I don't mind now.' I suggested William Tennent. 
'Oh, yes, massa; Willie Tennent! Glory to God! I been 
tryin' to tink ob dat name dese many years. I knowed I 
should know him in glory, but now I will call him by name 
jus as soon as I sees him. After I heard him, how I did 
feel ! Wen I was walkin' on de ground it would keep sayin' 
1 Unworthy ! unworthy ! ' Wen I took a bit ob bread, or a cup 
ob water, dey keep sayin' '-Unworthy ! unworthy /' Wen I goes 
into de field all de trees keep sayin' 'Unworthy / unworthy /' 
Wen I goes into de yard, I sees dat all de cattle kneels down 
afore dey lies down, an' I neber done dat. O massa, I thought 
I should die. I feels so bad.' (Then he would go on in 
various terms to tell of his utter despair.) ' But bimbye dere 
com'd along a colored man, who telled me des no use in my 
libin' dat way. He telled me ob de passage dat says : ' Behold 
de Lamb of God dat takes away de sins ob de world;' an' den 
I goes into de woods, an' all night I cries, 'O Lamb of God, 
hab mercy on dis poor man ; ' an' I cries an' prays dis ober an' 
ober; an', O massa ! just as de light was comin' ober de moun- 
tains ob ole Virginia, de Light ob Jesus shined into dis poor 
soul, an' from dat day on, now about a hundred years, I've 
been tryin' to tell to saints and sinners round, what a dear 
Saviour I have found.' 

"He was ever magnifying the Grace that rescued such a 
sinner as he, and that had sustained and comforted him in his 
long and weary pilgrimage. 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 229 

"I can call to mind many interesting incidents concerning 
him, but will mention only a few of such as made the most 
impression on my mind at the time. His voice and manner 
were such, as to give his declarations a power that they cannot 
have upon the lifeless page. The reader needs to imagine his 
earnest manner and emotional utterance, with the tone com- 
mon among preachers and exhorters at the South many years 
ago. The fact, too, that he did not appear to know that lie 
had said anything interesting, when he had uttered thoughts 
as rich as human language can express, gave to his words a 
peculiar charm. They would come forth as spontaneously as 
if they were the natural outflow of his soul, as if they were 
specimens of the rich quarry within, or as if God would thus 
show what can be wrought in a heart that gives him entire 
dominion. 

" One day while he was at work in his garden, singing and 
shouting, I said, 'You seem happy to-day.' 

'"Yes, massa, I'se jus finking.' 

'"What are you thinking of?' 

'"Oh, I'se jus tinking;' and then his emotions prevented 
utterance. 'I'se jus tinking dat ef de crumbs dat fall from de 
Master's table, in dis world, am so good, wat will de great 
loaf in glory be ! I tells ye, massa, dar will be nuff an' to 
spare dar.' 

"At another time when he seemed very happy, and I heard 
him shout, 'Lord Jesus, will dar be one for me?' I said, 'You 
are having a good time to-day, uncle?' He answered: 

" ' O massa, I was meditatin' about Jesus bein' de Carpenter ; 
an' so He can make mansions for His people in glory.' And 
then with uplifted face, and with tears, he cried out, ' O Jesus, 
will dar be one for me ? ' 

"Once I said to him, 'Uncle Johnson, why don't you go to 
church once in awhile?' He answered, 'Massa, I wants to be 
dar, but I can't Liave! 

" ' You can't behave ? ' 

'"Well, massa, you knows, late years, de flesh be weak; an' 
when dey 'gins to talk and sing about Jesus, I 'gins to fill up, 



230 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

and putty soon I has to holler, an' den dey say, 'Carry dat 
man to de door, he 'sturb de meetin'.' ' 

'"But you should hold in until you get home.' 

'"O massa, I can't hold in — I bust if I don't holler.' 

" Once, after hearing him.pray and sing at midnight, while a 
thunder storm was passing, in the morning I said, ' Was that 
you shouting so last night?' 

""'Yes, massa, I 'spose.' 

"■'Well, I thought the thunder made noise enough without 
your hallooing.' 

"He looked up, and with astonishment said: 'Massa, do 
you tink I'se goin' to lie dere on my bed like a great pig, wen 
de Lord com'd along shakin' de earth an' de heavens ? No, 
massa, when I hears de thun'er coming, I says, ' Ellen, Ellen, 
wake up here, we 's goin' to J tear from home agin ! ' ' 

" We chanced to be present when one called with whom he 
was not acquainted. After entering and shaking the old man 
by the hand, he said: 'Is this Uncle Johnson? I have often 
heard of you, and have meant sometime to see you. But as I 
was passing just now, something said to me, 'Go in there and 
give the old man a dollar.' I said, 'I can't do it;' and again 
something said, ' Go in there, I tell you, and give him a dollar.' 
So here it is, get anything you please with it' 

'"Yes, massa, thank you, thank you. I tought de Lord 
would send you dis afternoon, sit doAvn, sit down.' 

"'No, not now, I am in a hurry. I hope you are getting 
along comfortably. Good-bye.' 

'"Hold! hold! massa! Afore you go I wants to know if 
you are bound for de kingdom ? May-be I neber see you 
ag'in. Am you bound for dat land ob pure delight, where 
saints immortal reign ? Hab you de passport ? ' 

"'The what?' 

"'De passport all signed and sealed wid de blood ob Jesus. 
You must hab dat, massa, or you neber get fru de gates ob de 
city.' 

"In some such manner as this he would improve every 
opportunity of doing good to those who came in his way. 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 231 

He would with perfect naturalness run all conversation 
into a religious channel. 'Out of the abundance of the 
heart the mouth speaketh.' He was perpetually saying such 
things as declared that he was seeking a country, that is, an 
heavenly. 

" His anticipations of the heavenly inheritance were such 
that in times he thought himself in full possession. Said he: 
' Sometimes when Fse walking up and down in dis cabin, prais- 
ing de Lord, I tinks I am in heaven; I tinks dis am one ob de 
mansions dat Jesus gives His people. Den dis world is under 
my feet. I jus sees it a great way off, and I jus cries: 'O my 
God! am I in glory?" 

"'But how do you feel when you find that you are not 
there?' 

"'I has a long crying, and den I says, 'I will wait my 
appointed time.' 

"'How long would you be willing to wait?' 

" ' I will wait anuder hundred years, if de Lord please! 

"Realizing his need of fitness for heaven, we heard him 
praying one night: 'O Lord, an'oint our souls with angels* 
balm, that when w r e have done with dis world, we may be at 
home in glory.' 

"Nothing rejoiced him more than to hear that sinners were 
inquiring the way to the Saviour. Such tidings would make 
him weep for joy. Once, lifting his hands, he cried: 'O Lord, 
call dem in. Ho Lord ! make dem willing in de day of dy 
power.' 

" Once, in illustrating that sinners should be more in earnest, 
he said: 'Many tink dey be seeking and seeking 'ligion, and 
dey be jus putting it off all de time; dey must lay right down 
to it, jus as de hos would to de dray, or dey neber can get free. 
You know de gate is narrow — 'tis mighty narrow /' 

"His confidence in the Scriptures was unbounded. Let 
him be sure that the Lord had said anything, and nothing 
could shake his faith in it. We were mentioning this fact to 
a friend one day, just as we were going over to call on the old 
man. So, after having been there awhile, my friend said: 



232 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

'"Uncle Johnson, you believe so and so,' naming some 
fundamental doctrine of the Gospel. 

"'Yes, massa, I believes dat' 

'"What makes you believe that?' 

""Cause, massa, you knows dat de Lord says so,' quoting a 
passage or two. 

'"Well, Uncle Johnson, you believe so and so/ naming 
another doctrine, seemingly antagonistic to the former. 

'"Yes, massa, I believes dat, too, 'cause de. Lord said,' and 
then he quoted again. 

'"But see here, uncle, both of these things can't be true; 
you said you believed so and so, and also so and so. Now 
how do you reconcile these two things ? They can't both be 
true, in the nature of things ; it is not philosophical that both 
should be true.' And thus my friend went on attempting to 
confuse the old man with metaphysical subtleties. 

"Uncle Johnson heard him for awhile, and then lifting him- 
self from his chair, and in a manner indicating grief and impa- 
tience, said: 

* " ' Massa, I knows nothing about your philosophies an' your 
natur ob tings, but I knows dat de Lord said dem tings, an' I 
hab tried de Lord more dan a hundred years, (weeping) and 
I'se not going now to gib up one ting dat he said! 

" Having said this he sat down. My friend turned and said 
to me in a low tone, 'That will do; I give it up.' 

" He seemed to have so long rested upon the simple decla- 
rations of God, and to have had so many fulfillments of the 
promises in his own experience, that anything intimated or 
said in a manner indicating distrust of these things, was 
regarded with no degree of allowance. 

"A great sorrow overtook him in the death of his wife, 
which took place about two years before his own release. We 
found him at the bedside of the lifeless form of his wife, crying 
out with uplifted face and hands, ' Farewell, Ellen— farewell, my 
dear Ellen! must you leave me! must you leave me! O Jesus 
my dear Ellen is coming ! Gib her one ob de mansions till I 
come ! Lord Jesus ! how can I wait ? Send de chariot ag'in.' 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 233 

"Such like expressions were numerous until the tide of his 
emotions had subsided; then, kneeling by the bedside, he 
breathed his sorrows into the ear of his Saviour, in such a 
prayer as we never expect to hear again. 

" From that hour on, through the funeral occasion, and in 
the days following, his spirit and manner were beautiful beyond 
description. Being- human he often felt lonely, and believing 
that he would ultimately attain heaven, he greatly longed to 
be there. We said to him one day: 

"' Uncle Johnson, don't you feel lonely since Ellen left you ?' 

"'Oh yes, massa, I feels bery lonely, but den de Lord comes 
round ebery day and gives me a taste ob de kingdom, jus as 
de nus would wid de spoon ; but, oh ! how I wants to get hold 
ob de dish,' (suiting the manner to the words.) 

" Ever after Ellen's death he seemed only waiting, as he said, 
' for dat chariot to come ag'in.' Once, after he had been ill for 
a few days, as he began to get out again, I said : ' I thought 
that your appointed time had about come.' He replied : ' Oh, 
yes, I tought dat day dat I could see de dust ob de chariot 
coming ober de mountains, an' den somethin' said, 'Hold on, 
Johnson, a little longer; I'll come round directly.' Yes, massa, 
an' I will hold on, if de Lord please, anuder hundred years; 
for I'se bound for Canaan.' Then he broke out singing: 

" ' But this I do find, we two am so jin'd, 
He'll not live in glory and leave me behind/ 

"During those days he would often bid his friends farewell, 
'till we meets in glory.' 

" One day Dr. H called on him with me. After a con- 
versation which surely my friend will never forget, he said: 

"'I must now go; good-bye Uncle Johnson; I shall prob- 
ably hear soon that you have gone over Jordan, but we'll 
follow on.' 

"'Oh, yes, massa, great many years ago, young men like 
you tell me dat, an' den after a bit I'd hear dat dey had gone 
home, an' I am a pilgrim yet, but I always manages to send 
word.' 



234 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

"'Well, if I should die first,' said Dr. H , 'what word 

would you send?' 

"'0 massa, if you gets home afore I do,' (weeping) 'tell 'em 
to keep de table standin\ for Johnson is holding on his way. 
I'se bound to be derel 

" We might record other incidents and expressions, but they 
would be like those already given." 

The writer of the account knew but little of the circum- 
stances connected with his death, further than that his illness 
was brief. In such an hour as- he thought not "the chariot" 
came, and doubtless found him ready. May the reader be 
instructed by his bright and cheering example. 



THE JUDGE AND THE POOR AFRICAN WOMAN. 



IN ONE of the towns on the banks of the Ohio River, there 
dwelt years ago a just judge, honorable in life as well as 
title, and a poor lone African woman. 

The judge was rich and highly esteemed. He dwelt in a 
mansion, not so fine as to repel, nor so splendid as to make 
him the envy of the foolish — large enough to be the social 
centre of the town, and plain enough to make every one feel 
it a home ; and his heart was in keeping with his house — large 
and open. 

The poor African lived in a cabin on an alley, all alone, with- 
out chick or child, kith or kin. Her own hands ministered 
amply to her wants while she had her health. Her home 
though poor and small was always tidy. She belonged to the 
church of which the judge was an officer. But it so happened 
that they had never had free conversation together about the 
things of the kingdom. 

At last she received a severe injury from which she never 
recovered ; and for many months before her death was depend- 
ent and helpless, alone and bed-ridden. During this time, the 
judge's ample table and abundant wardrobe had contributed a 
full share to the comfort of the poor woman. But for a long 



AXECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 235 

time, for one reason and another, he put off a personal visit 
which he fully purposed to make her; until, at last, one day 
as he thought of the cheeriness of his own pleasant home, the 
contrast between this and the loneliness and desolation of the 
poor woman's cabin came into his mind, and filled him with 
sympathy for her. "Who can tell but I may cheer her a little, 
and perhaps, by a little timely sympathy, save her from repin- 
ing at her hard lot? Possibly, too, I may be able to throw 
some light upon the rugged pathway along which she is going 
to the kingdom." 

The judge loved to do good. So taking a well-filled basket, 
he sallied forth to visit the poor woman. As the door opened, 
he was struck with the air of neatness in the cabin. If she 
was bed-ridden, some kind hand supplied the place of her 
own. But again, as he looked around, and contrasted the 
social joys of his own ample mansion, where the voices of 
children as well as the presence of books and friends made all 
cheerful and happy, with the solitude of the poor woman alone 
here from morning to night, and from night to morning, only 
as one and another called out of kindness to keep her from 
suffering, his heart filled again with sadness and sympathy. 

Seating himself on the stool at the side of her cot, he began 
to speak to her in words of condolence: "It must be hard for 
you, Xancy, to be shut up here alone so many days and weeks." 

" O no, thank God, massa Judge, the good Lord keeps me 
from feelin' bad. I'se happy now as ever I was in all my life." 

"But, Nancy, lying here from morning till night, and from 
night till morning, all alone and racked with pain, dependent 
upon others for everything, do you not get tired and down- 
hearted, and think your lot a hard one to bear?" 

"Well, I'se 'pendent on others, dat's sure, 'deed I is, and I 
was allers used to have something to give to de poor, and to 
de missionary too, and to de minister, but den I'se no poorer 
dan my good Lord was when He was here in de world, and 
I'se nebber suffer half so much yet as He suffer for me on de 
cross. I'se very happy when I tink of dese things." 

"But, Nancy, you are here alone." 



256 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

"Yes, massa, I'se all alone, dat's true; but den Jesus is here 
too, all de time. I am neber alone no how, and He's good 
company." 

" But, Nancy, how do you feel when you think about death ? 
What if you should die here all alone some night ? " 

"Oh, massa Judge, I 'spect to, I 'spect nothin' else but jes' 
to go off alone here some night, as you say, or some day. 
But its all one, night or day, to poor Nancy; and den, massa, 
I 'spect I'll not go alone arter all; for Jesus says in de blessed 
book, 'I'll come and take you to myself, dat where I am, dare 
you may be also;' and I believe Him. I'se not afraid to die 
alone." 

"But, Nancy, sometimes when I think about dying I am 
filled with trouble. I think how bad I am, what a sinner, and 
how unfit for heaven; and I think, now what if I should die 
suddenly, just as I am, what w r ould become of me? Are you 
not afraid to die and go into the presence of a holy God?" 

"Oh no, massa, 'deed I'se not." 

" Why not, Nancy ? "' 

" Oh, massa, I was 'fraid berry much. When I was first injer', 
I see I must die, and I thought how can such a sinner as I is 
eber go into such a holy place as de New Jerusalem is? An' I 
was miserable. Oh, I was miserable 'deed, sure ! But den, by 
and by, arter awhile, I jes' thought I must trust myself to de 
blessed Jesus to make me all ready for de kingdom. An' so I 
soon found res' for my poor soul in Jesus, and since dat time I 
feel somehow all better. I know now He will make me all 
ready, pure and white, for de New Jerusalem above. An' now I 
love to think about de time when I shall come to 'pear before 
de Father's throne wid Him in glory, all starry, spangly white." 

For a moment the judge sat in silence, admiring the power 
of Grace. "Well, Nancy, one thing more let me ask you: Do 
you ever complain ? " 

"Complain! Oh now, massa Judge; complain do you say, 
massa ? Why massa, what should such a one as I complain 
of? The good Lord, He knows bes' what's bes' for poor 
Nancy. His will be done !" 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 237 

The judge bowed his head in silence for a moment, and then 
rose and bade Nancy good-bye, without the word of consola- 
tion and prayer, which he fully purposed to offer when he went 
into the cabin. All the way home he kept saying to himself, 
"Well, I never yet said, 'His will be done,' in that way. I 
never felt it. Alone, poor, helpless, bed-ridden, dependent, 
miserable in body, and yet happy as an angel. Ah ! there is a 
power there I never felt." 



UNCLE TOM MAYES. 



IT WAS in the beginning of the war. In the slave States it 
-had long been a custom from choice, that wherever con- 
venient the negroes chose wives on another plantation, as 
this gave them an opportunity of frequently leaving home, 
and Uncle Tom was homeward bound, between daylight and 
sunrise, when he was overtaken by Federal scouts who were 
looking for some Confederates who had been in the neighbor- 
hood. 

"Hello, old man, where are you going?" 

"Going home, sah." 

"Where have you been so early?" 

" To my wife's house, sah." 

"Where does your wife live?" 

"On the Booker farm, sah." 

"Have you seen any Confederate soldiers last night or this 
morning?" 

"No, sah; haven't seen any soldiers no sort." 

"Do you know Colonel Cooper?" 

"No, sah; don't know any man by dat name." 

"Where do you live?" 

" Right dar, sah, on dis plantation. Dat's my cabin." 

" How long have you been living there ? " 

"All my life -time, and expects to die dar." 

"And don't know Colonel Cooper ? Why he lives on this 
pike only a few miles from here. Colonel Duncan Cooper." 



233 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

"What! you mean marsa Dune Cooper? Didn't know he 
was a cunnel. Why, I know marsa Dune Cooper eber since 
he was born, and I know his fader and all his family." 

The soldiers thought Uncle Tom knew more than he was 
willing to tell, and told him he was a prisoner and must go to 
head-quarters at Columbia. In' vain the old man pleaded his 
innocence and ignorance, but succeeded in obtaining permis- 
sion to enter his cabin to make everything secure. For safe- 
keeping from soldiers on both sides, Uncle Tom had gathered 
up his chickens every night, and put them in a box under his 
bed. Upon opening the door, the morning light was welcomed 
by the rooster with a boisterous crowing. 

" We're in luck, boys," was the cry. " Bring the box out, 
old man; we are much obliged to you for bringing us into 
your cabin." 

The chickens were soon tied, and while this was being 
done, Uncle Tom begged that as he was about to be taken to 
head-quarters and perhaps never return, he might have the 
privilege of offering one more prayer in his cabin he might 
never see again. It was granted him on condition that his 
prayer be short, as they were in a hurry. But a Southern 
negro cannot pray until he has sung. So Uncle Tom lined 
out and sang the following beautiful hymn : 

How can I sink with such a prop, 

As my eternal God, 
Who bears the earth's huge pillars up, 

And spreads the heavens abroad ? 

How can I die while Jesus lives, 

Who rose and left the dead ? 
Pardon and grace my soul receives 

From my exalted Head. 

All that I am, and all that I have, 

Shall be forever thine ; 
Whate'er my duty bids me give, 

My cheerful hands resign. 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 239 

Then he knelt down and prayed, the soldiers standing 
around him. He prayed that God would take care of his 
master and his family; that God would take care of his wife; 
then he prayed for himself, and then for dese Buckra soldiers 
who had taken him prisoner: "O Lord, take good care of 
dese men. Keep dem safe from cannon-ball, keep dem safe 
from de bullet and de sword, keep dem from sickness, keep 
dem in de hollow of dy hand in de midst of danger on de 
battle-field, and soon, soon, O Lord, may dey return unhurt to 
dere happy homes where dere mudders, and wives, and chil- 
dren are, for dy dear name's sake, O Lord. Amen." 

The prayer was more than they had bargained for, and one 
of the soldiers said: 

" Here, old man, after such a prayer as that, we can't take 
your chickens, nor will we take you to headquarters; we 
believe you know nothing of the man we are looking for." 



HAPPY NANCY'S SECRET; OR CONFIDENCE IN GOD. 



THERE once Jived in an old brown cottage, a solitary 
woman. She was some thirty years of age, tended her 
little garden, knit and spun for a living. She was known 
everywhere, from village to village, by the name of "Happy 
Nancy." She had no money, no family, no relatives; and was 
half-blind, quite lame, and very crooked. There was no come- 
liness in her, and yet there, in that homely deformed body, 
the Great God, who loves to bring strength out of weakness, 
had set his royal seal. 

"Well, Nancy, singing again !" would the chance visitor say, 
as he stopped at her door. 

" Oh, yes, I'm forever at it." 

"I wish you'd tell me your secret, Nancy. You are all 
alone; you work hard; you have nothing very pleasant sur- 
rounding you; what is the reason you're so happy?" 

" Perhaps it's because I havn't got anybody but God," replied 
the good creature, looking up. "You see, rich folks like you, 



240 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

depend upon their families and their houses; they've got to 
thinking of their business, of their wives and children; and 
then they're always mighty afraid of troubles ahead. I ain't 
got anything to trouble myself about, you see, cause I leave it 
all to the Lord. I think, well, if he can keep this great world 
in such good order, the sun rolling day after day, and the stars 
a shining night after night, make my garden things come up 
the same season after season, he can certainly take care of 
such a poor, simple thing as I am ; and so, you see, I leave it 
all to the Lord, and the Lord takes care of me." 

"Well, but, Nancy, suppose a frost should come after your 
fruit trees are all in blossom, and your little plants out; sup- 
pose — " 

"But I don't suppose; I never can suppose; I don't want to 
suppose, except that the Lord will do everything right. That's 
what makes you people unhappy; you're all the time suppos- 
ing. Now, why can't you wait till the suppose comes, as I do, 
and then make the best of it." 

"Ah, Nancy! it's pretty certain you'll get to heaven, while 
many of us, with all our worldly wisdom, will have to stay 
out." 

"There, you are at it again," said Nancy, shaking her head, 
"always looking for some black cloud. Why, if I was you, I'd 
keep the devil at arm's length, instead of taking him right into 
my heart; he'll do you a desperate sight of mischief." 

She was right. We do take the demon of care, of distrust, 
of melancholy foreboding, of ingratitude, right into our hearts. 
We canker every pleasure with this gloomy fear of coming ill. 
We seldom trust that blessings will enter, or hail them when 
they come ; instead of that, we smother them under the blanket 
of apprehension, and choke them with our mistrust. 

It would be well for us to imitate "Happy Nancy," and 
"never suppose." If you see a cloud, don't suppose it's going 
to rain; if you see a frown, don't suppose a scolding will 
follow; do whatever your hands find to do, and there leave it. 
Be more childlike toward your Heavenly Father; believe in 
his love; learn to confide in his wisdom, and. not in your own; 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 241 

and above all, "wait till the suppose comes, and then make the 
best of it." Depend upon it, earth would seem an Eden, if 
you would follow "Happy Nancy's" rule, and never give place 
in your bosom to imaginary evils. 



MY COLORED WASHERWOMAN. 



THAT imprudence, negligence, and an unwillingness to 
labor, and to save in "summer's warmth, for winter's 
cold," is the cause of the most of the poverty and 
wretchedness in our midst, there can be no doubt. A little 
circumstance came under my notice yesterday which goes to 
confirm this. 

During the deeply drifted snow which covered our streets, 
and in many places precluded traveling even to pedestrians, 
until they first " digged their way out," I was pleased to see 
my good old colored washerwoman, a widow near three score 
years of age, come trudging in, looking as pleasant as a " May 
morning," though not for some hours after her usual time, 
because, as she said, she had first to dig a path through the 
deep snow. Upon asking her how she got through the night, 
— it was so extremely cold — she said, with a bright face, and 
a sprightly voice : " Oh, right well ; I have plenty of bed covers 
that I got with my own earning, and I wedged my old ratlin' 
winders all 'round right tight, so that there didn't much snow 
git in; and I kept a fire in my stove all night, which I don't 
do when its moderit weather, and so I didn't suffer at all. 
Now I tell you how I does; I work steady all summer, so as 
to lay up for winter. And when a great many that's as poor 
as" I am are goin' off on 'scurszons, and dressing themselves very 
fine in summer, I'm layin' up my meats, like the squirrels, for 
winter. I goes on no 'scursions, but when work's scarce I 
goes down to the Capes for two or three weeks, and cooks for 
the boarders, and washes for 'em. Then I takes that money 
that I gits, and buys my coal, right in the summer time, for 
sometimes I gits it cheaper then; and I never had any coal or 



242 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

wood given to me in my life; only some people what knows 
me, lets me have it a dollar a ton cheaper, sometimes, caze 
they see I'm layin' in for winter; and now, when these 'scur- 
sioners and lazy things are goin' about half-froze, and half- 
starved, a beggin', I'm crackin' my nuts by a good warm stove, 
and I've good thick, warm clothes, all bought with my own 
money, too. 

" I belongs to a society that'll help me if I become helpless, 
but I've not been helped yet, case I don't need it; and I often 
give little matters to others that's poorer than me." She was 
then asked if she went to any place of worship, and replied, 
" Oh yes, bless you mistress, I goes all day, every Sunday, and 
now lately 'tween worship, I goes into the Sunday School, and 
I'm tryin' hard to learn to read ; and I think I shall ketch it 
soon, for I can spell right smartly. I would love to read the 
New Testament for myself, for the Lord is so good to me; 
and I love Him." When I heard this good, industrious, cheer- 
ful old woman, the descendant of African parents, give this 
honest account of herself, I could but say, " There is no need 
of such poverty and wretchedness, as we daily witness in this 
country." 

Can anything be done to make these work for their subsist- 
ence, and " gather nuts in summer, to crack in winter," as do 
the squirrels, and many of our colored population, as well as 
this washerwoman? 



A SLAVE'S PRAYER. 



ITS WONDERFUL EFFICACY IN CHANGING THE LIVES OF HIS MASTER 
AND MISTRESS A TRUE AND TOUCHING STORY. 

NOT long since, an old gentleman of Harrison county, 
Kentucky, was gathered to his fathers, after having 
attained the age of seventy-five years. A notice of the 
old gentleman's death was mailed to some old friends in this 
city, and they, of course, had a great deal to say about the life 
and character of their deceased friend. The circumstances of 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 243 

the old gentleman's death recalled to their minds a very 
remarkable incident in his career, and we have been fortunate 
enough to obtain the particulars connected therewith. The 
truth of the story we can heartily vouch for, because it comes 
from a source perfectly reliable. We give it to show it some- 
times happens that the current of a man's life is changed 
almost in the twinkling of an eye, as it were, and to illustrate 
the efficacy of prayer. 

The circumstances occurred when the gentleman referred to 
was comparatively a young man and completely worldly in the 
truest sense of the word. Neither himself nor his wife were 
members of any church, and, up to the time mentioned, had 
never given the subject of religion any serious thought. He 
was a prosperous farmer, and, as civil war had not yet deso- 
lated the land and changed the condition of the "peculiar 
institution," of course owned a number of slaves. Among the 
number was a colored man named Jacob, known to be a pious 
man, and whose mind dwelt a great deal on the great truths 
revealed in the Bible, but he had to conform to the discipline 
which all slaves were subjected to in those days, and his 
master was a man of violent temper and unreasonable preju- 
dices. One evening Jacob came in from work, and his master 
being in a very ugly frame of mind, objected to something he 
had done, and chastised him severely for it. Jacob received 
the chastisement meekly, and went away without a word of 
complaint and attended to his usual duties. 

The next morning he got up, looking very solemn and 
troubled in mind, and refused to eat his breakfast. It was such 
an unusual occurrence for him to refuse to eat, that his master 
concluded that he was "sulking," and expressed the opinion 
to his wife that he had not been severe enough with him the 
night before. He therefore concluded to watch Jacob, and if 
he saw more signs of "sulkiness," as he called it, he would 
chastise him again. He ate his breakfast and walked out to 
see what Jacob was doing, but at first could not find him. 
Finally, he went near the corn crib, intending to throw a few 
ears of corn to some calves in the lot, and just as he started to 



244 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

open the door, he heard a voice and paused to listen. Then 
he discovered that it was Jacob's voice, and being curious to 
know what the former had to say, remained motionless. After 
listening to the voice for a few moments, he was seized with 
astonishment, for Jacob was praying, and for the master who 
had just a short time before wrongfully punished him. It was 
a pathetic appeal, full of humble simplicity and a grand unself- 
ishness. The burden of it was that the good Lord would 
pardon the high-tempered master for the wrong he had done 
his slave, and that he would fili his heart with a love for the 
true, the beautiful, and the good. "Do not judge my poor 
sinful master for his wrong to me," said this loving slave, "but 
teach him the error of his ways and bring him to Thy feet, 
and save him from himself. If Thou wilt but teach him," he 
continued, "to feel as I do whenever I hear the story of the 
sufferings of Thy Son on Calvary's cross, I will not complain 
of his treatment to me." 

Then he prayed for his mistress, and asked God to forgive 
her and show her the joys of an humble Christian life. Not 
one word did he utter for himself, but the end of his prayer 
was, " Forgive them, forgive them." 

Subsequent events proved that Jacob's lowly prayer ascended 
straight to the throne of Almighty God, for both his master 
and mistress became changed beings from that time until their 
death. As soon as the prayer was finished, the master slipped 
away and wandered over his farm for hours, his heart being 
disturbed by emotions it never felt before. In the afternoon 
he repaired to the house, and his wife was thunderstruck at 
the wonderful change in his appearance and his actions; that 
haughty, over-bearing look, peculiar to himself, was gone, and 
was replaced by one of humble resignation. 

His wife could only ask: "William, what on earth has come 
over you ?" 

His reply was: "Mary, I have inhumanly chastised an 
angel, for Jacob is surely one of them." Then he told her all; 
and she became almost as much affected as her husband. The 
result was they connected themselves with the Baptist church 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 245 

and became noted for their Christian virtues. Wherever they 
were known, their upright walk in life and their noble charities 
were subjects of general remark, and they were always pointed 
to as a living evidence of the wonderful pow r er of God's 
redeeming grace. 

It is hardly necessary to say that Jacob was never chastised 
asrain. His master often remarked afterward, that he would 
almost as soon think of striking the Almighty Himself as 
Jacob. 

There never was another misunderstanding between Jacob 
and his master and mistress. He would not receive his free- 
dom, for he said he wished to live and die on the old home- 
stead. 

We can assure our readers that this is no fancy sketch. We 
have given the story just as it was told to us by one who 
knows it to be true, and whose word has never been ques- 
tioned. 



OLD AUNT SALLY. 



A WRITER in the Chicago Standard describes a visit 
paid to an old colored woman in the poor-house at 
Columbia, S. C. 
"As it was 'visitors' day,' the outside surroundings were 
passably clean. On entering, however, I was obliged to call 
to my aid every particle of will-power that I possessed, in 
order to endure the sight of the complete wretchedness of the 
place. The walls were grimy with dirt and smoke. Not a 
vestige of comfort was to be seen. Two poor old women, one 
of them blind, sat crouching over a dying fire, while on a 
miserable bed lay Aunt Sally, about ninety years old, perfectly 
blind and helpless, shrivelled and shrunken, her body tortured 
with intense pain. She had lain there for years, looking long- 
ingly 'for the home just over the way.' 

" Can there be such a thing as beauty amid such wretched- 
ness ? Yes, out of the depths of that helpless suffering and 



246 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

poverty, in the radiance of Aunt Sally's poor old black face, 
shone the beauty of the Lord. 

" I went to see her with the dim idea that I might, perhaps, 
be able to afford her a little comfort in her affliction, but 
I soon found from the heights in which she dwelt, that she 
had already appropriated all the comfort the Lord had to 
give to such as she, so that my poor attempts seemed quite 
out of place. I said, however, 'I am very sorry to see you 
suffering so much, Aunt Sally, and wish that I could help 
you.' 

"'Oh, la, Missus, don't you feel sorry. De Lord is mighty 
good to dis poor cretur.' 

" ' But you are helpless and blind, Aunt Sally.' 

"'No, no, not blind. I sees Jesus, I don't want to see de 
way you sees.' 

"'Not want to see with your eyes?' said I, quite surprised. 

"'No, Missus, for if de Lord wanted me to see, he'd not 
make me blind. De Lord has blessed me with a long bed of 
'fliction.' 

" ' Blessed you with affliction ? ' I said. 

"'Yes, Missus, blessed me, or He would not give it to me. 
All He does is a blessing. De will of de Lord must be done. 
You're so good to me, but la, you can't help yourself; it's de 
Spirit of de Lord. It works just like medicine, 'pears to me 
it comes jes like a peach or an apple on a waiter.' 

"'Are you not lonely?' feeling that I must say something. 

" ' Oh no, not lonesome, Missus, I done got plenty of com- 
pany — plenty of company at midnight. I'se no time to get 
lonesome.' 

" ' You live so near to the Lord, then, that the devil never 
comes to trouble you. Does he, aunty ? ' 

"'Oh, la now, he done tries to get in here every chance 
he can get.' 

'"But you have lain on this bed all these years, Aunt Sally; 
how can you stay so cheerfully ? ' 

"'Oh,' said she, 'I don't want to hear tell of years — if Jesus 
says 'stay,' I stay. When Jesus says 'come,' all de world can't 



AXECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 247 

stop me. I don't want to set de time; but He'll come, He'll 
come ! ' 

"Thus her simple faith in Christ took hold of everything. 
We could say nothing. He must say it ally 



OLD SUSAN. 



B" 



LESS de Lord, I'm pretty well, and granny's no wuss." 
heard the voice below my window just as the dawn 
of a bright summer day was coloring the eastern 
horizon. Then another question was asked by the cook below, 
as she threw open the shutters, but I could only hear old 
Susan's reply: "No, I can't come in; I'm up so airly to look 
for wood to bile de kittle. Granny'll be wantin' breakfast." 

Soon after I saw the poor old woman bent almost double 
with the weight of fagots on her back, and her check apron 
filled with chips and corn-cobs from the wood yard. I raised' 
the sash, and called her: 

"Aunt Susan, do come in ! Flora will get your breakfast, 
and you can take some home with you for granny," said I. 

She lowered the bundle of fagots from her shoulders, and 
pushed back the long gingham sun-bonnet, as she looked up 
at my window. 

"Bless yer heart, chile, but I couldn't — wouldn't!" She 
shook her head very decidedly, and adjusted the red bandana 
turban which had been crushed down by the sun-bonnet " Ye 
see, me and granny ain't had fambly prayers yit this morning. 
That's it; obliged to yer jes' the same." 

I suggested that our Heavenly Father would not reject 
prayers that were offered after breakfast. She looked up to 
me as I leaned from the window to catch the glory of the 
sunrise, and said, with rather a touch of sadness in her tone : 

" No, chile, yer hadn't oughter think so. De Lord fust, an' 
everything else afterwards. Ef ye eat, or ef ye drink, do it all 
to de glory of God; but it tain't ter His glory ef yer please 
yerself fust. Til be round biemby; then we 'splain de matter 



248 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

together." And reloading her tired shoulders, she tottered off 
under her burden. 

In my visits among the poor, I remember calling to see her 
one day, and being obliged to wait some time after knocking, 
although I heard her voice within. I was surprised that she 
should keep me waiting, for she had such a delicate sense of 
the duties of hospitality, that she was particularly careful never 
to oblige a visitor to remain standing at her door. I soon 
discovered that she was engaged in prayer; one greater than 
any earthly guest was with her; it almost seemed as if she 
pleaded before one who was visibly present. She waited and 
wept, she urged, entreated, and earnestly pleaded; then grad- 
ually her tone changed, and her voice rose in prayer and loud 
hallelujahs, and then she was silent. I knocked once more, 
and hastily now she threw open the door; the traces of tears 
were still on her cheeks, and in her poor, dim eyes. 

" Welcome, welcome ! " she exclaimed : " come in. De Lord's 
bin wid me dis day. Praise and bless His holy name. I'se 
had sich a blessed time." 

Then she dusted the only spare seat her poor room afforded, 
and placed it so that as she seated herself upon her bed she 
should face me. 

"Oh, chile!" she exclaimed; "de prayers dat's gone up 
from dis poor shanty for you and de Sunday school ? Dey's 
gone right up from dis poor, low, mean place, right up through 
dis old roof, straight up to de great white throne ! " And she 
clasped her hands and looked up as if she saw the vision 
beyond. " God's holy angels has heard 'em, Jesus has listened 
to 'em, and God's treasured 'em up, and dey'll come down in 
blessin's when old Susan's dead and gone. When I gits rid 
of dis mis'able, sickly body, and rises up to where my holy 
prayer's gone before me, oh, how I'll sing wid de holy angels, 
praise de Lord, praise de Lord!" 

She used to go off in these rhapsodies frequently; she had 
dull prosaic neighbors, who never got excited over praise or 
anything else, and they used to say that old Susan was crazy 
when she prayed. In alluding to this, she once told me, 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 249 

smiling, that she was going to ask the Lord to make them 
crazy in prayer. She thought a little more earnestness on the 
subject would be an improvement. Her faith was so strong, 
that it seemed to have an element of sublimity in it; it was 
grand! The extreme poverty in which she lived, and her 
reliance upon others for every comfort in life, made her realize 
her dependence upon our Father in heaven more strongly than 
those who live in ease and luxury. She has often said to me ; 
" I am poor and sick, broken down with hard work, crooked 
and bent with rheumatism, my wrists are so weak and my 
fingers so stiff, that I can hardly pick up chips; boys often 
laugh at me in the street, because when I bend down I cannot 
always get up again; sometimes my fire goes out, and I have 
nothing to eat until the Lord sends some kind friend with 
food. But, bless the Lord, I am going home. The Lord is 
my Father, and in my Father's house there is plenty; more 
than enough. Oh, when I get home ! Dear Lord, dear Lord ! 
When I shall reach my home, I shall forget all the troubles I 
have had in this poor shanty." Looking at her in her poor 
room, I have often thought that if possible, heaven would 
seem more glorious to her, coming out of distress and misery, 
sickness and want, darkness and cold, into the full blaze of 
heavenly light. 

She was very grateful to those who paid her rent. Of one 
lady, in particular, she often spoke to me with great affection. 
She said to me once, naming this lady: "She is to be paid 
back every cent." It was spoken with so much earnestness, 
that I involuntarily looked around, as if I expected to see 
some one standing there with the money. She smiled, and 
told me she had been reminding God of His promise to pay 
her debts. 

I once called on passing to leave some dinner for her; she 
met me at the door, and insisted on my coming in. "I know'd 
you was a comin'," she said, "for I had nothin' t'eat, and I 
prayed de Lord ter send me somethin'." 

"Well," I replied, "He has heard your prayer, and has sent 
this to you." 



'250 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

She placed the dish on her stove to keep warm, and then 
she began to talk of prayer. " I does pray fur you," she said, 
"and fur Mr. and Mrs. L., and Miss C. I prays fur all de 
world, but de Lord lets us choose out those who's good to us, 
and pray fur them most of all. Mr. L. has been so good, so 
good to me, oh, I do pray fur him!" She paused, and sat 
thinking a moment, and then added: "When Aunt Susan 
stops a prayin', she'll be cold and dead." 

Old Susan's faith led her to believe that she could see the 
hand of God in even the most -trifling events of life, and that, 
as He was leading her, and teaching her through these means, 
she should be ever on the watch, so as not to lose the lessons 
His providence set in her way. She came to me one day with 
the utmost gravity, to tell me of a lesson in resignation. Her 
pet dog, through some inadvertence, had eaten a portion 
prepared for rats; her tender heart was much troubled by the 
suffering so carelessly inflicted. Just before extinguishing her 
light at night, she turned to Dinah, and — to let her tell her 
own story, as she told it to me : " Sez I, ' Granny, look yer last 
on poor Prince, fur you'll never see him alive no more.' Then 
it kinder struck me that I wasn't resigned, so I kneels down, 
and sez I, '0 dear Lord, he's bin a faithful dog to me. He's 
watched over my things many a day when I was out a beggin' 
fur daily bread; he's bin very faithful, but I gin him up to de 
Lord. If de Lord says his time's out, I gin him up. I'se 
resigned.' Next mornin' I opens de winders, an' behold, dere's 
Prince, jis as well as ever! Sez I, 'Granny, de Lord has gin 
him back to me. He was jis a tryin' my faith ! His will is 
best fur us all, ye mus larn dat, granny, dat's de lesson from 
dis providence." 

Old Susan stills lives, but her faculties seem gradually fail- 
ing, while yet life retains hold in her weak frame. She is 
helpless, weak, and old. While earthly matters seem fading 
out of her memory, her thoughts still cling to things above. 
In my last tract-distributing visit to her room, I found her 
holding an open Testament, with the leaf folded down at the 
fourteenth chapter of St. John's Gospel. She cannot read, but 



AXECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 251 

she sat pathetically looking at the text. As I entered, she 
exclaimed: "Oh, read it, read it, for me!" It seemed as if 
her faith, so sorely tried by her long waiting, and her earthly 
sufferings, was for a moment wavering. As I slowly and 
distinctly read the words, "In my father's house are many 
mansions," etc., the glimmering rays rekindled, her faith reas- 
serted itself. "Yes, yes!" she exclaimed, "I knew it was so, 
I knew it was written somewhere there; now I remember it. 
I'll have a home in my Father's house." As I looked at the 
poor, worn-out frame; the weak, helpless hands; the wrinkled 
face, and the dim eyes, my faith could see, through these, the 
glorious spirit that should one day arise, and take its upward 
flight toward the heavenly mansions. 



THIRTY YEARS AGO. 



TTT B. was a great merchant in Baltimore. One morning 

Y Y • as ne was passing over the vessels that lay at the 

wharf, he stepped upon the deck of one at the stern 

of which lay a negro, whose dejected countenance gave sure 

indications of distress. He accosted him with.: 

"Hey! my man, what is the matter?" 

The negro, lifting up his eyes and looking at W. B., replied: 
"Ah ! massa, I'se in great trouble." 

"What about?" 

" Case I'se fetched up here to be sold." 

"What for ? What have you been doing ? Have you been 
stealing, or did you run away, or what?" 

" No, no, massa, none o'dat. It's bekase I didn't mind de 
auders." 

"What kind of orders?" 

"Well, massa stranger, I will tell you. Massa Willum wery 
strict man, and a werry nice man, too, and ebrybody on de 
place got to mind him, and I brake frew de rule, doe ; I forgot 
myself and I got too high." 

" It is for getting drunk, then, is it." 



252 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

" O no, sah, not dat nother." 

"Then tell me what you are to be sold for." 

"For praying, sah." 

" For praying;! That's a strange tale. Will not your master 
permit you to pray ? " 

"O yes, sah, he let me pray easy; but I hollers too loud." 

"And why do you halloo in your prayers ? " 

" Kase de Spirit comes on me and I gets happy 'fore I knows 
it; den I gone, kan't controll myself, den I knows nuttin' 'bout 
massa's rule." 

"And do you suppose your master will really sell you for 
that?" 

"O yes; no help for me now. All de men in de world 
couldn't help me now — kase when massa Willum say one ting 
he no do anoder." 

" What is your name ? " 

" Moses." 

" What is your master's name ? " 

" Massa's name is Colonel William C ." 

"Where does he live?" 

"Down on de Easin Shoah." 

"Is he a good master, and does he treat you well ?" 

" O yes, no better man in de wuld." 

"Stand up and let me look at you." 

And Moses stood up and presented a robust frame; and 
as W. B. stripped up his sleeve, his arm gave evidence of 
unusual muscular strength. 

" Where is your master ? " 

"Yonder he is, jes' comin' to de warf." 

As W. B. started for the shore he heard Moses give a heavy 
sigh, followed by a deep groan. Moses was not at all pleased 
with the present phase of affairs. He was strongly impressed 
with the idea that W. B. was a trader, and intended to buy him, 
and it was this that made him so unwilling to communicate to 
W. B. the desired information. 

W. B. reached the wharf just as Colonel C. did. He intro- 
duced himself, and said: 



AXECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 253 

" I understand you want to sell that negro man yonder, on 
board the schooner." 

Colonel C. replied that he did. 

'What do you ask for him?" 

" I expect to get $700." 

" How old do you reckon him to be ?" 

"Somewhere about thirty." 

"Is he healthy?" 

"Very; he never had any sickness in his life, except two 
spells of the ague." 

"Is he hearty?" 

"Yes, sir; he will eat as much as any man ought, and it will 
do him as much good." 

" Is he a good hand ? " 

"Yes, sir; he is the best hand on my place. He is steady, 
honest, and industrious. He has been my foreman for the last 
ten years, and a more trusty negro I never knew." 

"Why do you wish to sell him?" 

"Because he disobeys my orders. As I said, he is my fore- 
man; and that he might be available at any moment I might 
want him, I built his hut within a hundred yards of my own 
house, and I have never rung the bell at any time, in the night 
or morning, that his horn did not answer me in five minutes 
after. But two years ago he got religion, and commenced 
what he terms family prayer — that is praying in his hut every 
night and morning — and when he began his prayer, it was 
impossible to tell when he would stop, especially if (as he 
termed it) he got happy. Then he would sing and pray and 
halloo for an hour or two together, that you might hear nearly 
a mile off. And he would pray for me, my wife and children, 
and our whole family connections to the third generation, and 
sometimes, when we would have visitors, Moses' prayers would 
interrupt the conversation and destroy the enjoyment of the 
whole company. The women would cry and the children 
would cry, and it would get me almost frantic, and, even after 
I had retired, it would be almost daylight before I could go to 
sleep, for it appeared to me that I could hear Moses pray for 



254 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

three hours after he had finished. I bore it as long: as I could, 
and then forbid his praying any more — and Moses promised 
obedience, but he soon transgressed, and my rule is never to 
whip, but whenever a negro proves incorrigible, I sell him. 
This keeps him in subjection, and is less trouble than whip- 
ping. And I pardoned Moses twice for disobedience in pray- 
ing so loud, but the third time I knew I must sell him, or 
every negro on the place would soon be perfectly regardless 
of all my orders." 

" You spoke of Moses' hutr I suppose from that he has a 
family?" 

"Yes; he has a woman and three children, or wife, I sup- 
pose he calls her now — for soon after he got religion, he asked 
me if they might get married, and I presume they were." 

"What will you take for her and the children ?" 

"If you want them for your own use, I will take $700; but 
I shall not sell Moses or them to go out of the State." 

"I wish them all for my own use, and will give you the 
$1,400." 

W. B. and Colonel C. then went to W. B.'s store, drew up 
the writings and closed the sale, after which they returned to 
the vessel; and W. B. approached the negro, who sat with his 
eyes fixed on the deck, wrapped in meditation of the most 
awful forebodings, and said: 

"Well, Moses, I have bought you." 

Moses made a low bow, and every muscle in his face worked 
with emotion when he replied: 

"Is you, massa? Where is I gwine, massa? Is I gwine to 
Georgia?" 

" No," said W. B., "lama merchant here in this city. Yon- 
der is my store, and I want you to attend on the store; and I 
have purchased your wife and children, too, that you may not 
be separated." 

" Bress God for dat ! and massa, kin I go to meeting some- 
times?" 

"Yes, Moses, you can go to church three times on Sabbath, 
and every night in the week, and you can pray as often as you 






ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 255 

choose, and as long as you choose; and every time you pray, 
whether it be at home or in church, I want you to pray for me, 
my wife, and all my children; for, if you are a good man, your 
prayers will do us no harm, and we need them very much; 
and if you wish, you may pray for everybody of my name in 
the State. It will not injure them." 

When W. B. was dealing out these privileges to Moses, the 
negro's eyes danced in their sockets, and his full heart laughed 
outright for gladness, exposing two rows of as even, clean 
ivories as any African can boast; and his heart's response was, 
" Bress God, bress God all de time, and bress you, too, massa ! 
Moses neber tinks 'bout he gwine to hab all dese commoda- 
tioners ; dis makes me tink 'bout Joseph in Egypt" And after 
Moses had poured a few blessings upon Colonel C, and bidden 
him a warm adieu, and requested him to give his love and 
farewell to his mistress, the children, and all the servants, he 
followed W. B. to the store, to enter on the functions of his 
new office. 

The return of the schooner brought to Moses his wife and 
children. 

Early next spring, as W. B. was one day standing at the 
store door, he saw a man leap upon the wharf from the deck 
of a vessel, and walk hurriedly toward the store. He soon 
recognized him as Colonel C. They exchanged salutations, 
and to the Colonel's inquiry after Moses, W. B. replied that he 
was up-stairs measuring grain, and invited him to walk up and 
see him. Soon W. B.'s attention was arrested by a very 
confused noise above. He listened and heard an unusual 
shuffling of feet, some one talking very hurriedly; and when 
he reflected upon Colonel C.'s movements and the peculiar 
expression of his countenance, he became much alarmed at 
what was transpiring. 

When he reached the head of the stairs, he was startled at 
seeing Moses in the middle of the floor, down upon one knee, 
with his arm around the Colonel's waist, and talking; most 
rapidly, while the Colonel stood weeping audibly. So soon 
as the Colonel could control his feelings, he told W. B. that 



256 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

he had never been able to free himself from the influence of 
Moses' prayers, and that during the past year, he and his wife 
and children had been converted to God. 

"Moses responded: "Bress God, Massa C., doe I way up 
hea, I neber forgit you in my prayers; I olles put de ole 
massa side de new one. Bress God, dis make Moses tink 
'bout Joseph in de Egypt again." 

The Colonel then stated to W. B. that his object in coming 
to Baltimore was to buy Moses and his family back again. 
But W. B. assured him that was out of the question for he 
could not part with him ; and he intended to manumit Moses 
and his wife at forty, and his children at thirty years of age. 

Moses was not far from wrong in his reference to Joseph, for 
when Joseph was sent into Egypt, God overruled it to his good, 
and he obtained blessings that were far beyond his expecta- 
tions : so with Moses ; he eventually proved the instrument, in 
God's hands, of saving the soul of the man who sold him. 



UNCLE HARRY. 



LATE in the last autumn, it was my privilege (says the 
author, in the Literary and Evangelical Magazine, 1824) 
to spend a few hours in the hospitable mansion of the 
Rev. S. B. W., of F. I arrived at the house very early in the 
morning — just before the family assembled to perform their 
customary devotions. On the signal being given, the children 
and domestics came into the room where we were sitting. 

Among the latter, there was a very aged black man, whom 
every one called Uncle Harry. As soon as he entered, I 
observed that W. and lady treated him with marked attention 
and kindness. The morning was sharp and frosty, and Uncle 
Harry had a chair in the corner, close to the fire. 

The portion of Scripture selected was the second chapter 
of Luke. I observed that the attention of Harry was deeply 
fixed; and he soon began to manifest strong emotions. The 
old man's eye kindled as the reader went on, and when he 



AXECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 257 

came to the tenth verse, Harry appeared as though his heart 
was tuned to the angelic song, and he could hardly help utter- 
ing a shout of triumph. 

There was not, however, the smallest ostentation of feeling, 
or endeavor to attract attention. He only, in a gentle manner, 
turned his face upward, strongly clasping his hands as they 
lay on his lap, and expressing by his countenance the joy of 
his heart. By this time he had interested me so highly, that I 
could not keep my eyes from him. 

I watched the varying expressions of his countenance, and 
saw that every word seemed to strike on his heart and produce 
a corresponding emotion. I thought I would give the world, 
if I could only read the Bible just as Harry heard 'it. While 
I was thinking, and looking on with intense interest, the reader 
came to the passage where old Simeon saw the infant Saviour, 
took Him in his arms, blessed God, and said, "Lord, now 
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have 
seen thy salvation." 

Harry's emotion had become stronger and stronger, until 
the words just quoted were read, when he was completely 
overpowered. Suddenly turning on his seat, to hide as much 
as possible his feelings, he bent forward and burst into a flood 
of tears; but they were tears of joy. He anticipated his 
speedy peaceful departure, and his final rest. This state of 
feeling continued during the remainder of the service, and 
when we rose from our knees, Uncle Harry's face seemed liter- 
ally to have been bathed in tears. 

As soon as we had risen, the old man came toward me with 
a countenance beaming with joy. "This," said W., addressing 
me, "is Uncle Harry." He reached out his hand and said, 
" O, why did my God bring me here to-day, to hear what I 
have heard, and see this salvation ? " I asked, "Are you ready 
to depart, Uncle Harry, as good old Simeon was, of whom we 
read in this chapter?" ' I shall never forget his look of hum- 
ble, joyful submission, when he replied, "Just when it shall 
please my blessed Lord and Master." "You hope to go to 
heaven?" "Through Divine mercy, I do." "What is the 

Q 



258 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

foundation of that hope?" "The righteousness of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ." 

On perceiving that I wished to converse with the old man, 
W. said, with a kindness which showed that he recognized 
Harry as a Christian brother, and respected his age, " Come, 
take your seat again, Uncle Harry, and sit up near the fire." 
He accepted the invitation, and I entered into a conversation, 
which afforded me higher pleasure than I ever enjoyed in the 
circles of fashion, beauty, wit and learning. I here give some 
of the most interesting particufars. 

"How old are you, Uncle Harry?" "Why, as nigh as I 
can tell, I am eighty-nine or thereabout." "Where were you 
born?" "At Port Tobacco, in Maryland." "And who had 
you to preach the Gospel to you there?" "Ah, we had no 
preacher of the Gospel there at that time." "Then it was after 
you left Port Tobacco, that you embraced religion, was it?" 
" No, sir, it was while I lived there, and I will tell you how it 
was : A great many years ago, there was one Dr. Whitefield, 
that traveled all through this country, preaching the Gospel 
everywhere — I dare say you have heard of Dr. Whitefield; he 
was the most powerful preacher. 

"Well, as I was saying, he went through Maryland; but his 
place of preaching was so far off, that I did not hear of it 
until he was gone. But not long afterward, I met a man, an 
acquaintance of mine, who did hear him. He told me about 
the sermon; and what I heard opened my eyes to see that I 
was a poor lost sinner : and ever since that time, I have been 
determined to seek Jesus as my Saviour, and spend my life in 
His service." 

• Happy Whitefield ! thought I, and greatly honored of thy 
Master, who has used thee as His instrument in saving so 
many souls. 

" But," said I, " how old were you then ? " " Why, as nigh as 
I can guess, I was somewhere about sixteen or seventeen years 
old." "And you have never repented of this resolution?" 
"No, indeed, master; I have never repented of anything, but 
that I have served my blessed Saviour so poorly." 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 259 

"But have you not met many trials and difficulties by the 
way?" "Yes, indeed, master; but out of them all the Lord 
has delivered me; and having obtained help of God, I continue 
to this day. Blessed be his name; he will never leave or for- 
sake me; I have good hope of that." 

" Well, how did you obtain religious instruction where you 
lived, as you say there was no preacher of the Gospel in the 
neighborhood?" "Why, by the mercy of God, I learned to 
read the Bible ; and that showed me the way to Jesus. But, 
now I think of it, when the Roman Catholics heard that I was 
concerned about my soul, they sent for me, and tried hard to 
get me to join them. 

"There was a priest at Port Tobacco, whose name was 
O'Neal; he talked to me a great deal. I remember he said to 
me one day, ' Harry, now that you are concerned about your 
soul, you must come and join the Catholic church.' 'What 
for, Mr. O'Neal?' said I. 'Because,' said he, 'it is the true 
church.' 'Then,' said I, 'if the Catholic church will lead me 
to Jesus, I will join it with all my heart, for that is all I want;' 
and Mr. O'Neal said, ' If you will join the church, I will war- 
rant that you shall go to heaven.' ' How can you do that, Mr. 
O'Neal?' said I. 

"Then he told me that a great many years ago, our Saviour 
came into the world, and he chose twelve apostles, and made 
St. Peter their head; and the pope succeeded St. Peter; and so 
all that join the pope belong to the true church. Then said I, 
'Why, how do you know that, Mr. O'Neal?' 'Because,' said 
he, ' our Saviour told Peter, ' I give you the keys of the king- 
dom of heaven; and whatsoever you bind on earth, shall be 
bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth, shall be 
loosed in heaven.' ' 

"And I said, 'The Lord knows how it is, Mr. O'Neal; I am 
a poor ignorant creature, but it always did seem to me, that 
Peter was nothing but a man like the other apostles ; ' but Mr. 
O'Neal said, 'No, he was the head and chief of the apostles; 
for our Saviour said again, 'Thou art Peter, and on this rock- 1 
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail 



260 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

against it.' ' And I asked him, ' Now, do you think Peter was 
that rock, Mr. O'Neal?' He answered, 'To be sure he was;' 
and I said again, ' The Lord knows how it is, but it never did 
seem so to me. 

"'Now I think it was just so: When Peter said, 'Thou art 
the Christ, the Son of the living God,' our Saviour told him, 
'Thou art Peter', (while the old man repeated the words, 
' Thou art Peter', he pointed his finger at me, and looked me 
directly in the face, but as soon as he began the following part 
of the quotation, he brought -his hand briskly down to his 
knee, saying with emphasis, as he looked at himself,) 'and on 
this rock will I build my church;' and that rock was Christ; 
for it is written in another place, 'Behold, I lay in Zion a chief 
corner stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on him 
shall not be confounded;' and that corner stone is Christ' 

"Then Mr. O'Neal said to me, 'Why, Harry, where did you 
learn all that ? ' I said ' From my Bible.' ' 0/ said he, ' You 
have no business with the Bible; it will only confuse and frus- 
trate you.' 'But,' I said, 'it tells me of my Saviour.' Then, a 
gentleman who was sitting by, said, 'O, you might as well 
leave him alone, Mr. O'Neal; you cannot make anything of 
him;' and from that time, I never had any desire to join the 
Roman Catholics." 

The narrative, of the truth of which I could not entertain 
a moment's doubt, showed a promptness of reply, and an 
acquaintance with the Scriptures, which truly surprised me, and 
I remarked, " I suppose, Uncle Harry, you take great pleasure 
in reading the Bible?" Ah, master, when I could read, it was 
the pleasure of my life. But I am old now, and my book is 
so rubbed that the print is dim, and I can scarcely make out 
to read a word." 

On this W. said, "Well, Uncle Harry, you shall have a new 

Bible. Do you call on Mr. , when you go down-town, 

and he will give you a new one from the Bible Society." 
Harry bowed, and expressed gratitude for the kindness, but 
did not manifest as much pleasure as I expected, considering 
how highly he professed to value the Bible. While I was 



ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 261 

wondering, and rather sorrowing on the account, I observed 
the old man to be feeling, with ah air of embarrassment, in his 
pocket. 

At length, he pulled out an old tattered case, which appeared 
to have long been in use, and observed, "This new Bible will 
not be of much use to me, because my spectacles are so bad, 
that they help me very little In reading." With that he opened 
his case, and showed a pair of spectacles of the cheapest sort, 
of which one glass was broken, and the other so scratched, 
that it was wonderful that he could see through it at all. 

W. no sooner observed this, than he said, "Well, Uncle 

Harry, you must have a new pair; do you call at Mr. 's 

store, and tell him to let you have a pair suited to your age, 
and I will settle with him about it" On hearing this Harry's 
eyes gleamed with joy, and he exclaimed: "Thank God ! 
God bless you, master ! Now I shall have comfort again in 
reading the Bible." And I never saw a happier, or a more 
grateful countenance. 

Presently, he said the wagon would soon call for him to take 
him home, and he must go down-town, and be getting ready: 
on which he again thanked his kind friend, and invoked a 
blessing on him and his family. He then affectionately and 
respectfully took me by the hand, and said, " I never saw you 
before, and I never shall see you again in this world; but I 
love you as a minister of my blessed Lord and Master, and I 
hope that I shall meet you in the house above. Remember 
and pray for poor old Harry." 

I squeezed his hand, and assured him of my affectionate 
remembrance, and requested that he would pray for me, and 
for the preachers of the Gospel generally. "O," said he, " may 
God Almighty bless all the dear ministers of Christ, and 
enable them to call many poor sinners to the dear Saviour. 
O, I do love to hear of souls coming to Christ ! and it is my 
daily prayer. Thy kingdom come, and thy will be done on 
earth, as it is in heaven ! " With that the old man took leave. 

I confess that I have often since wished to see him and hold 
communion with him. There was about him a spirit of piety 



262 ANECDOTES OF COLORED PEOPLE. 

and benevolence, and humble zeal and fervent hope, of meek- 
ness and submission, which I have rarely seen equaled. At 
the same time, there was a degree of intelligence, and an 
extent of religious knowledge, which in his condition really 
surprised and delighted me. 

I saw here one of the triumphs of Divine Grace. I was 
made to appreciate the value and the excellence of that religion 
which could take a poor slave, and so transform him, that he 
was well-nigh fitted to be a companion of saints in light and 
of just men made perfect. And since I saw him, I have often 
prayed, that after the days of my wandering shall be over, and 
all the sufferings of my lot shall be endured, I may obtain a 
share in the rest, and a lot in the inheritance, which I have no 
doubt are prepared for Uncle Harry. 



ANECDOTES OF INDIANS. 



^T^HE Indians often express themselves in a striking and 
interesting manner. From Heckewelders's account of 
"The Delawares," we extract the following anecdote: 
"Seating myself once upon a log by the side of an Indian, 
who was resting himself there, being at that time actively 
employed in fencing in his corn field, I observed to him, that 
he must be very fond of working, as I never saw him idling' 
away his time, as is so common with the Indians. The answer 
he returned made a very great impression on my mind. I 
have remembered it ever since, and I shall try to relate it as 
nearly in his own words as possible. 

" ' My friend, the fishes in the water, and the birds in the air, 
and on earth, have taught me to work. By their example, I 
have been convinced of the necessity of labor and industry. 
When I was a young man I loitered about a good deal, doing 
nothing, just like the other Indians, who say that working is 
for whites and negroes, and the Indians have been ordained 
for other purposes — to hunt the deer and catch the beaver, 
otter, raccoon, and such other animals. But it one day so 
happened, that while hunting, I came to the bank of the Sus- 
quehanna, and having sat myself down near the water's edge 
to rest a little, and casting my eye on the water, I was forcibly 
struck when I observed with what industry the Mecehgalingus 
(sun-fish) heaped small stones together, to make secure places 
for their spawn; and all this labor they did with their mouth 
and body, without hands ! 



264 AN EC DO TES OF INDIA NS. 

"'Astonished, as well as diverted, I lighted my pipe, sat 
awhile smoking and looking on, when presently a little bird 
not far from me raised a song, which enticed me to look that 
way. While I was trying to distinguish where the songster 
was, and to catch it with my eyes, its mate with as much grass 
as it could hold in its bill, passed close by me and flew into a 
bush, where I perceived them together, busily employed in 
building their nest, and singing as their work went on. I saw 
the birds in the air and the fishes in the water working dili- 
gently and cheerfully, and all -this without hands. I thought 
it was strange, and I became lost in wonder. I looked at 
myself, and saw two long arms, provided with hands and 
fingers, and with joints that might be opened and shut at 
pleasure. I could, when I pleased, take anything up with 
these hands, hold it fast, or let it loose, and carry it along with 
me. When I walked, I observed, moreover, that I had a stout 
body, capable of bearing fatigue, and supported by two stout 
legs, with which I could climb to the top of the highest moun- 
tains, and descend at pleasure into the valleys. 

"'And is it possible, said I, that a being so wonderfully 
formed as I am, was created to live in idleness; while the birds 
which have no hands, and nothing but their little bills to help 
them, work with cheerfulness, and without being told to do so? 
Has then the great Creator of man, and of all living creatures, 
given me all these limbs for no purpose ? It cannot be. I will 
try to go to work. I did so, and went away from the village 
to a spot of good land, where I built a cabin; enclosed ground, 
and raised cattle. Ever since that time, I have enjoyed a good 
appetite and sound sleep, and while others spend their nights 
in dancing, and are suffering with hunger, I live in plenty. I 
keep horses, cows and fowls. I am happy. See, my friend, 
the birds and fishes have taught me to work ! ' " 

It is related that a Mohegan Indian asked a female Indian 
who was one of the Moravian converts, whether all the people 
who belonged to the congregation she did, felt the love of God. 
"I cannot tell," she answered, "whether all feel it, but those 
who believe, and love the Saviour, feel it certainly. Suppose 



A XE CD TES OF INDIA NS. 265 

there was a very good meal preparing in this room, and many 
people attending; those only who eat can say that the victuals 
taste well. The others cannot say so. Thus it is with our 
Saviour; those only who have tasted of His love can speak of 
it, and they never forget it" To this the Mohegan assented, 
and speaking of the birth of his first child, said, " I thought, 
this child God has made; and I loved it so much, that I could 
not forbear looking at it continually. Soon after the child died, 
and I mourned to that degree that nothing would comfort me. 
I had no rest day nor night, and my child was always in my 
thoughts, for my very heart cleaved to it. At last I could bear 
the house no longer, but ran into the woods, and almost lost 
my senses. The Indians then advised me to take an emetic to 
get rid of my sorrow. I complied; but the love for my child, 
and my sorrow for its loss were not removed, and I returned 
to the woods. There I beheld the trees and the birds, and I 
considered that the same God created them who made my 
child. I then said, 'Thou, O God who madest all things, I' 
know not where thou art, but I have heard that thou dwellest 
in heaven. Thou hast taken my child, take my sorrows 
and griefs also from me.' This was done, and I could then 
forget my child. From this I conclude, that those who love 
God, are disposed as I was toward the child I so dearly loved. 
They can never forget Him, nor find rest nor pleasure in any- 
thing else." 

An Indian, being among his white neighbors, asked for a 
little tobacco to smoke, and one of them having some loose in 
his pocket, gave him a handful. The day following, the Indian 
came back, inquiring for the donor, saying he had found a 
quarter of a dollar among the tobacco. Being told, that as it 
was given to him he might as well keep it, he answered, pointing 
to his breast, " I got a good man, and a bad man here, and the 
good man say, ' It ain't yours ; you must return it to its owner : ' 
the bad man say, ' Why he gave it to you, and it is your own 
now:' the good man say, 'That's not right; the tobacco is 
yours, not the money:' the bad man say, 'Never mind, you 
got it, go buy some dram:' and the good man say, 'No, no, 



266 ANECDOTES OF INDIANS. 

you must not do so : ' so I don't know what to do, and I think 
I go to sleep ; but the good man and the bad keep talking all 
night, and trouble me; and now I bring the money back I feel 
good." 

Another Indian related, that having got some money, he 
was, on his way home, tempted to stop at a tavern and buy 
some rum: "But," said he, pointing to his breast, "I have a 
good boy, and a bad boy here; and the good boy say, 'John, 
don't you stop there : ' the bad one say, ' Poh ! John, never 
mind, you love a good drarru' the good boy say, 'No, John, 
you know what a fool you made yourself when you got drunk 
there before, don't do so again.' When I come to the tavern, 
the bad boy say, ' Come, John, take one dram ; it won't hurt 
you:' the good one say, 'No, John, if you take one dram, then 
you take another:' then I don't know what to do, and the 
good boy say, ' Run, John, hard as you can' — so I run away, 
and then, be sure, I feel very glad." 

POOR SARAH. 



RELIGION EXEMPLIFIED IN THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PIOUS 
INDIAN WOMAN.* 

IT was a comfortable morning in March, 1814, when I first 
formed an acquaintance with the subject of the following 
sketch. She called to solicit a few crusts, meekly saying, 
"she desired nothing but the crumbs — they were enough for 
her poor old body, just ready to crumble into dust." I had 
heard of Sarah, a pious Indian woman, and was therefore pre- 
pared to receive her with kindness. And remembering the 
words of my Lord, who said, " Inasmuch as ye have done it 
unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it 
unto me," I was ready to impart a portion of my little unto 
her, (for little, alas ! was my store.) 

* The above account was published some years ago in The Religious Intelli- 
gencer, the editor of which says: "The subject of this narrative lived and died in 
a town in the eastern part of Connecticut. We are well acquainted with the 
writer, and we can assure our readers that the account here given is true." 



ANECDOTES OF INDIANS. 267 

''And how," I asked her, "have you got along this long, 
cold winter, Sarah ? " 

" O, Misse," she replied, " God better to Sarah than she fear. 
When winter come on, Sarah was in great doubt No hus- 
band, no child here but ; she wicked, gone a great deal. 

What if great snow storm come? W T hat if fire go out? 
Neighbor great way off — what if sick all 'lone ? What if I 
die ? Nobody know it. While I think so in my heart, I cry. 
While I crying, something speak in my mind and say, ' Trust 
God, Sarah, He love His people; He never leave them, He 
never forsake them, He never forsake Sarah, He friend indeed. 
Go tell Jesus, Sarah ; He love hear prayer, He often hear Sarah 
pray/ So I wipe my eyes, don't cry any more; go out in the 
bushes where nobody see, fall down on my old knees and pray. 
God give me a great many words; pray great while. God 
make all my mind peace. When I get up, go in house, can't 
stop praying in my mind. Ail my heart burn with love to 
God; willing live cold, go hungry, be sick, die all 'lone, if God 
be there. He know best, Sarah don't know; so I feel happy; 
great many day go singing Baptist hymn : 

"Now I can trust the Lord forever, 
He can. clothe, and he can feed, 
He my rock, and He my Saviour, 
Jesus is a friend indeed.'" 

"Well, Sarah, have you been comfortably supplied?" 

"0, yes," she replied, "I never run out corn meal once all 
winter." 

"But how do you cook it, Sarah, so as to make it comforta- 
ble food?" 

"0, I make porridge, misse; sometimes I get out like 
to-day, and I go get some crusts bread and some salt to put in 
it, then it is so nourishing to this poor old body; but when 
can't get more, then make it good I can, and kneel down, pray 
God to bless it to me; and I feel if God feed me, and be so 
happy here," laying her hand on her heart. 



268 A NE CD TES OF IND I A NS. 

Oh, what a lesson ! thought I, for my repining heart. " But 
do you have no meat or other necessaries, Sarah ? " 

" No, Misse ; sometimes I get so hungry for it I begin feel 
wicked, then think how Jesus hungry in desert. But when 
Satan tempt him to sin to get food He would not, so I say, 
Sarah won't sin to get victuals. I no steal, no eat stole food,* 
though be hungry ever so long. Then God give me small 
taste of His self, His Son, and His glory, and I think in my 
heart they all be mine soon, then I no suffer hunger no more 
— my Father have there many-mansions." 

In one of her many visits she afterward made me, she gave 
me, in substance, the following account of her conversion. 
She lived, according to her own account, until she became a 
wife and mother without hope and without God in the world 
(having been brought up in extreme ignorance), her husband 
treating her with great severity. She became dejected and 
sorrowful, and to use her own simple language, "I go sorrow, 
sorrow all day long. When the night come, husband come 
home angry, beat me so; then I think, O, if Sarah had friend, 
Sarah no friend; I no want tell I got trouble, that make only 
worse. So I be quiet, tell nobody, only cry all night and day 
for the good friend. 

" One Sunday good nabor come and say, ' Come, Sarah, go 
meetin'. So I call my children, tell 'em stay in house while I 
go meetin'. When got there, minister tell all about Jesus; 
how He was born in stable, go suffer all His life, die on great 
cross, bury, rise, and go up into Heaven, so always be sinner's 
friend. He say, too, if you got trouble, go to Jesus. He best 
friend in sorrow, He cure all your sorrow, He bring you out 
of trouble, He support you, make you willing suffer. 

"So when I go home think great deal what minister say, 
think this the friend I cry for so long. Poor ignorant Sarah 
never hear so much about Jesus before. Then I try hard to 
tell Jesus how I want such friend. But, O, my heart beat so 
hard, can't feel, can't pray, can't love Jesus though he so good. 
This make me sorrow more and more. When Sunday come 

* This might refer to food stolen by her wicked daughter. 



ANECDOTES OF INDIANS. 269 

want go meetin' 'gain. Husband say, 'You shan't go, I beat 
you if you go.' So I wait till he go off hunting, then shut up 
children safe and run to meetin', sit down in door, hear minis- 
ter tell how bad my heart is — no love to God, no love to Jesus, 
no love to pray. 

" So then I see why can't have Jesus for friend, 'cause got 
so bad heart; then go prayin' all way home, Jesus make my 
heart better. When got home find children safe, feel glad 
husband no come; only feel sorry 'cause my wicked heart, 
don't know how to make it better. When I go sleep, then 
dream I can read good book; dream I read there, Sarah 
must be born 'gain ; in morning keep thinking what that word 
mean. 

"When husband go work, run over my good nabor, ask her 
if Bible say so. Then she read me where that great man go 
see Jesus by night, 'cause fraid to go in daytime. I think he 
just like Sarah. She must go in secret to hear 'bout Jesus, 
else her husband be angry and beat her. Then feel 'couraged 
in mind, determined to have Jesus for friend. So ask nabor 
how get good heart. She tell me give your heart to Jesus, He 
will give Holy Spirit, make it better. Sarah don't know what 
she mean, never hear 'bout Holy Spirit. 

" She say must go to meetin' next Sunday, she will tell min- 
ister 'bout me; he tell me what to do. So Sarah hear how 
must be born 'gain ; minister say, * You must go fall down 
'fore God; tell Him you grieved 'cause you sin; tell Him you 
want better heart; tell Him for Christ Jesus' sake give Holy 
Spirit, make your heart new.' Then Sarah go home light 
'cause she know the way. When get home husband beat me 
'cause I go to meetin' — don't stay home work. I say, Sarah 
can't work any more on Sunday 'cause sin 'gainst God. I 
rather work nights when moon shine. So he drive me hoe 
corn that night, he so angry. I want to pray great deal, so go 
out hoe corn, pray all the time. When come in house hus- 
band sleep. Then I kneel down and tell Jesus take my bad 
heart — can't bear bad heart; pray give me Holy Spirit, make 
my heart soft, make it all new. So great many days Sarah go 



2;o ANECDOTES OF INDIANS. 

begging for a new heart. Go meetin' all Sundays ; if husband 
beat me never mind it; go hear good nabor read Bible every 
day. So after great while God make all my mind peace. I 
love Jesus; love pray to him; love tell him all my sorrows; 
He take away my sorrow, make all my soul joy; only sorry 
'cause can't read Bible — learn how to be like Jesus; want to 
be like His dear people Bible tell of. 

"So I make great many brooms; go get Bible for 'em. 
When come home husband call me fool for it; say he burn it 
up. Then I go hide it; when* he gone, get it, kiss it, 'cause it 
Jesus' good word. Then I go ask nabor if she learn me read ; 
she say yes. Then I go many days learn letters, pray God all 
the while help me learn to read His holy word. So, Misse, I 
learn read Baptist hymn; learn to spell out many good words 
in Bible. So every day take Bible, tell my children that be 
God's word, tell 'em how Jesus die on cross for sinner, then 
make 'em all kneel down. I pray God give them new heart; 
pray for husband too, he so wicked. O, how I sorry for him, 
fear his soul go in burning flame." 

"Sarah," said I, "how long did your husband live?" 

" O, he live great many year." 

"Did he repent and become a good man?" 

"No, Misse, I fraid not; he sin more and more. When he 
get sick I in great trouble for him; talk every day to him, but 
he no hear Sarah. I say how can you bear to go in burning 
fire, where worm never die, where fire never go out. At last 
he get angry, bid me hold my tongue. So I don't say any 
more, only mourn over him every day 'fore God. When he 
die my heart say, Father, Thy will be done — Jesus do all things 
well. Sarah can't help him now, he be in God's hands; all is 
well. So then give my heart all away to Jesus, tell Him I be 
all His; serve him all my life; beg Holy Spirit come fill all 
my heart, make it all clean and white like Jesus. Pray God 
help me learn more of His sweet word. And now Sarah live 
poor Indian widow great many long year; always find Jesus 
friend, husband, brother, all. He make me willing suffer, 
willing live great while in this bad world, if He see best. 



A NE CD TBS O F IND I A NS. 27 1 

'Bove all, he give me great good hope of glory when I die. 
So now I wait patient till my change come." 

In the spring of 18 18, it was observed by her friends that 
she did not appear at meeting as usual, and one of her partic- 
ular female benefactors asked her the reason; when she with 
streaming eyes told her, that her clothes had become so old 
and ragged, that she could not come with comfort or decency; 
but said she had been praying God to provide for her in this 
respect a great while, and telling Jesus how much she wanted 
to go to His house of prayer, and expressing a strong desire 
to be resigned and submissive to His will. This was soon 
communicated to a few friends, who promptly obeyed the call 
of Providence, and soon furnished this suffering member of 
Christ with a very decent suit of apparel. This present was 
almost overpowering to her grateful heart. She received them 
as from the hand of her Heavenly Father and kind Redeemer 
in answer to her special prayer. But this did not in the least 
diminish her gratitude to her benefactors; but she said, she 
would go on tell Jesus how good His dear people were to this 
poor old creature, and pray good Father to give them great 
reward. 

The last visit I had from her was in the summer of 18 18. 
She had attended a funeral, and returning called at my cottage. 
She complained of great weariness and pain in her limbs, and 
showed me her feet which were much swollen. I inquired the 
cause. "O," said she, with a serene smile, "death comes 
creeping on; I think in graveyard, to-day, Sarah must lie here 
soon." 

"Well, are you willing to die ? Do you feel ready?" 

" O, I hope, Misse, if my bad heart tell true, I willing and 
ready to do just as Jesus bid me; if he say, 'You must die,' 
I glad to go and be with Him; if He say, 'Live and suffer 
great deal more,' then I willing; to do that ; I think Jesus know 
best. Sometime I get such a look of Heaven, I long to go 
see Jesus, see happy angel, see holy saint — throw away my 
bad heart, lay down my old body, and go where I no sin. 
Then I tell Jesus, He say, 'Sarah, I prepare place for you, then 






272 ANECDOTES OF INDIANS. 

I come take you to myself.' Then I be like child, don't want 
to go till He call me." Much more she said upon this inter- 
esting subject, which indicated a soul ripe for heavenly glories. 
When we parted I thought it very doubtful whether we should 
ever meet again below. In the course of three weeks from 
this time I heard that Sarah was no more. 

Thus while the pen of many a ready writer is employed in 
imparting instruction, reproof or correction to the rising gener- 
ation ; while the deeds of the mighty are recorded with splen- 
dor, the exploits of heroes proclaimed from the house-tops, 
and the virtues and charities of God's people are exhibited 
that others may see their good works and glorify their Father 
who is in Heaven, I would, according to my humble ability, 
snatch from oblivion the example of one, who though scorned 
by the proud and overlooked by the great, yet was known and 
beloved by a humble few, and by them the Grace of God was 
magnified on her account 



INTEMPERANCE. 



SOMETHING FOR DRINKING MEN TO READ. 



I HAVE lately read a story about one Samuel Pikington, 
who was said to be a good mechanic and could earn fair 
wages, but for all that his family were all the time in a # 
most destitute condition, for he is represented as having a wife, 
a good, patient, forgiving creature, and several small children. 
The reason assigned for the pinching want to which this family 
was subjected, was that instead of Samuel's carrying home to 
them the wages which he earned, he was in the habit of spend- 
ing the largest part of his weekly earnings in rum shops and 
taverns. He often came home in a bad humor, and would 
scold his poor wife, and find fault with her almost continually. 
Sometimes he would say to her, "Why arn't the children at 
school — -free schools — you can't say it takes money to send 
them there f" 

Edward, Emma, Samuel and Francis would no doubt have 
been glad enough to have been there, but the weather was 
cold, and the ground was frozen and covered with snow, yet 
they were all without shoes. Their clothing, though mended 
and patched, was very poor, and scarcely sufficient to keep 
them comfortable in the house, much less in the out-door 
air. One day he said to his wife in a fierce, angry manner: 

" Why haven't the children got shoes and clothes fit to go 

to school ? That's what I want to know." 

R 



274 INTEMPERANCE. 

Upon this the poor wife said to him, " Samuel, I want you to 
answer me a few questions." 

"Well," says Samuel, "ask them, and be quick about it." 

She then queried with him how much he earned where he 
was employed. 

"Two dollars and a half a day, fifteen dollars a week, the 
same as the other hands." 

" How much do you allow me out of that to keep house 
with?" 

" Why six dollars a week* a whole dollar a day, counting 
out Sunday, when I am out with my friends." 

"Samuel, out of this, four dollars a week has to go for rent 
or we would have no house to live in. This leaves me but 
two dollars, out of which you expect me to feed you and four 
children, and to clothe them, and keep shoes on their feet." 

"Well, Jane," says he, "you get washing to do." 

She acknowledged to him that by making considerable 
exertion, all that her strength was equal to, she managed to 
get a little in this way. Poor drinking Samuel, cross and ugly 
as he often was, now saw a little how badly he used his family, 
for he said to her, "Well, Jane, this does look rather hard, but 
never mind, I will give you a little more next week." But 
just then he was out of money himself, and not having work 
in the shop that day, he was thinking how he would do to get 
his accustomed dram, so he said to his wife, "Have you any 
money in the house?" 

" Yes, Samuel," says she, " I have twenty cents." 

"Good," says Samuel, "Will you just run around to the 
grocery and get me a bottle of gin ? " 

Poor Jane, who was probably used to doing what he asked 
her to, without attempting to cross him, signified that she 
would obey his demands, and stooping down she took off the 
poor worn-out shoes and stockings from her feet, when she 
was asked by her husband, "What are you doing that for, 
Jane ? " She told him that the ground was covered with wet 
snow; that if she got them wet, she had no others to put on 
when she came back; and if she got sick the children might 



INTEMPERANCE. 275 

starve entirely, for they were half-starved now. So bare-footed 
she took the bottle to go out. 

"Stop, Jane," he said huskily, "stop, this is too bad; I don't 
want that gin. I am a brute." 

His wife was no doubt rejoiced at this unexpected change 
in Samuel, and reminded him how happily they had lived 
together before he drank, talked kindly to him till both of 
them were affected to tears, while the children stood and won- 
dered. 

"Jane," he sobbed, "you once asked me to sign the pledge, 
but I cursed you and refused. Bring it to me now, and I will 
both sign it and keep it." 

It is easy to imagine how glad a wife would naturally feel 
under such changed prospects. It is related of him, that 
Samuel was as good as his word. That he not only signed a 
temperance pledge and kept it, but that he became increasingly 
industrious, and that his weekly earnings were all brought 
home for the use of his family, who were soon made comfort- 
able, and that ever after they were prosperous, and lived 
happily together. 

Whether all that is related in this little story actually occur- 
red or not, I have no means of knowing; but there can be no 
doubt but what hundreds of wretched families are made so 
through the use of strong drink, while those husbands who 
reform from their intemperate habits, and are industrious, and 
kind to their families, cause a great rejoicing therein, as was 
the case in the family of Samuel Pikington. 



BLESSINGS OF TEMPERANCE. 



ONE day in the streets of Cork, a man by the name of 
Barry, a corn dealer, on his way to the savings bank, 
was met by a tavern keeper named Murphy ; the latter 
said, "Why do you not come to see me as often as you used 
to?" To which the former answered, "I cannot do any such 
thing now, as Father Matthew has desired me to keep out of 



276 INTEMPERANCE. 

the way of temptation." "I am sorry to see you looking so 
badly," said the tavern keeper; "why, your face is quite yel- 
low." "Why," said Barry, "if my face be yellow, so are my 
pockets too," and he pulled out of his pocket four sovereigns, 
which he was going to lay by in the savings bank. 

Not less than three or four hundred new books have been 
opened in the Cork Savings Bank since the spread of temper- 
ance there. By laying up money in that manner, they would 
have but little need of poor-laws or work-houses. By becom- 
ing teetotalers, the people would, in fact, constitute poor-law 
societies among themselves. Then, neither the aged father 
nor mother of a teetotaler would be under the heart-rending 
necessity of applying for admission to a work-house. 

Such results are common wherever this blessed reformation 
has worked its way. Its path is strewed with the trophies of 
its redeeming power, and millions have already rejoiced, and 
millions more will yet rejoice, that it has dawned upon the 
world. 



WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? 



A WRITER relates the following: A gentleman traveling 
in New England, put up at a hotel, and for a time took 
his seat in the bar-room. While sitting there, the door 
opened suddenly, and a woman stepped in. She was the very 
picture of agony; her dress negligent, her eye unsteady. She 
seemed to hesitate at first, but finally gathering courage, she 
moved to the bar and said : 

"Landlord, don't sell my husband any more rum. You 
have already ruined us. You know that before he came to 
your bar he was a sober man. He was as kind a husband as 
woman ever had. We had a good home, a good farm, and 
every comfort. But you sold him liquor until he had no 
money to pay. Unknown to me, you got a mortgage on his 
farm; you sold it and turned me and my helpless children out 
of doors ! My husband lost his health, his character, and his 



INTEMPERANCE. 277 

reputation. He became cross and abusive to me, whom he 
once so tenderly loved. He beats me and my children cruelly, 
and threatens to murder us. Oh, don't let him have any more 
liquor ! " And the tears gushed from her eyes, while the land- 
lord stood speechless. 

In the midst of these entreaties, a man stepped into the bar- 
room, and with the vacant stare of an inebriate, moved toward 
the bar. 

Instantly the pleading wife threw herself between the man 
and the bar, and with one hand against his breast, and the 
other stretched Out imploringly to the landlord, she said : 

"Oh don't, my dear! don't drink! You will break my 
heart ! " and bursting with agony, she turned to the landlord 
and said: "Oh, don't let him have it! don't, don't!" 

And while this scene was passing, the landlord walked 
deliberately out from behind the counter, and taking the 
woman rudely by the arm, said: "This is no place for women;" 
and violently tore her from her husband, and pushing her out, 
shut the door against her. 

The wretched inebriate staggered up and drank his dram, 
placing a piece of money on the counter, and the landlord 
wiped it off complacently into the till. The whole transaction 
was under the sanction of the law ! For the sale of eveiy 
glass of that ruinous liquor, which reduced an honest man and 
good citizen to the lowest degree of suffering and infamy, he 
could show a "license." 

There was, then, no redress in law for that suffering woman. 
She had been robbed of her home, of her comfort, of her 
husband; and the blight of despair had been thrown over her 
whole family ; but the law protected her destroyer, and left her 
to endure her anguish without the hope of relief. 

This is but one of the ten thousand horrible infamies of the 
liquor traffic. And it is useless to appeal for redress to those 
who are engaged in this business. They have counted the 
cost; they have entered upon the business with their eyes 
open, knowing that their success means the ruin of their 
customers. 



278 INTEMPERANCE. 

Is it not time that this whole traffic was swept from the 
earth ? If tears and sighs and heart-breaks would have stayed 
the curse, it would have been rolled back long ago. Some- 
thing is needed, what is it ? 



THE DRUNKARD'S GIRLS. 



THE chaplain of the Lawrence (Mass.) jail, relates the 
following interesting fact: There was a man, one of the 
worst of drunkards. He was a carpenter, and had 
once owned a little house; but the house had gone for drink, 
his family were neglected, and his poor wife had to support 
them, while he wasted his time and money in intemperance 
and sin. 

One day he had become intoxicated, and lay down on the 
ground out in the field, and when he awoke he heard two little 
girls talking on the other side of the wall. They were his 
little daughters, and they knelt down there and prayed, and 
said, "O God, bless father, and make him the good father he 
used to be before he was a drunkard; and bless mother, and 
keep her alive, for father's conduct is killing her." 

Then presently he heard two other little girls coming along 
the road to pick berries, and they said, " Let us not pick the 
berries there, for those are the drunkard's girls;" and so they 
went past to another place. And then his two daughter's put 
their arms around each other's neck, and wept, and said, 
" Why does everybody hate us ? We are good — we try to do 
right; why do they all hate us? It is because our father is a 
drunkard." 

The words of the little children were like arrows to the 
father's heart. He had a shilling in his pocket, and he went 
and bought a little flour, and went home and asked his wife to 
make him a little porridge to eat. He ate it, and drank no 
more liquor that day. 

The next morning he went to a man who had formerly 
employed him, and who was building a house. 



INTEMPERANCE. 279 

"Can you trust me?" said he, "the last drop of liquor has 
passed my lips." 

" Do you mean that ? " said the man. 

"Yes." 

"Well, if you do, there is my house; there is the stone and 
the lumber; you may go to work." 

He worked hard all day, and at night said, " Can you trust 
me with a dollar?" 

"Yes," said the employer, "you have earned two dollars;" 
and he paid him the money. 

He got some food for the family, and the next morning, as 
his wife was going away, he inquired, " Where are you going 
to-day?" 

"I am going to wash at " said she. 

" Well, will you obey me ? " 

"Yes," said she. 

"Then don't go. There is fifty cents, buy some calico and 
make the children some clothes." 

She promised to do so, and he went to his work. He 
worked faithfully all the week, and brought home his wages, 
ten dollars, and gave them to his wife, who knew then, for the 
first time, that she had her husband back again in the ways of 
sobriety and peace. 

He persevered. The little home came back again; comfort 
and peace came back again; and the man was saved through 
the blessing of God, we may believe, in answer to the prayers 
of those little girls. 



THE PINT OF ALE. 



A MANCHESTER calico printer was, on his wedding- 
day, asked by his wife to allow her two half-pints of 
ale a day as her share of extra comforts. He made 
the bargain, but not cheerfully, for though a drinker himself 
(fancying, no doubt, that he could not well do without), he 
would have preferred a perfectly sober wife. They both worked 



28o INTEMPERANCE. 

hard. John loved his wife, but he could not break away from 
his old associates at the ale-house, and when not at the factory 
or at his meals, he was with his boon companions. His wife 
made the small allowance meet her housekeeping expenses — 
keeping her cot neat and tidy, and he could not complain that 
she insisted upon her daily pint of ale, while he, very likely, 
drank two or three quarts. Once in awhile the wife succeeded, 
by gentle, loving artifice, in drawing her husband home an 
hour or two earlier than usual, and very rarely she persuaded 
him to sperid a whole evening in her company. They had 
been married a year, and the morning of their wedding anni- 
versary John looked with real pride upon the neat and comely 
person of his wife, and, with a touch of remorse in his look 
and tone, he said: 

"Mary, we'n had no holiday since we were wed, an' only 
that I haven't a penny i' th' world, we'd take a jaunt to th' 
village and see th' mither." 

"Would like to go, John?" she asked. 

There was a tear with her smile, for it touched her heart to 
hear him speak tenderly as in the old times. 

" If thee'd like to go, John, I'll stand treat." 

"Thou stand treat, Mary ! Hast got a fortin' left thee?" 

" Nay, but I'm gotten the pint o' ale," said she. 

"Gotten what, wife?" 

"The pint o' ale," she repeated. 

And thereupon she went .to the hearth, and from beneath 
one of the stone flags drew forth a stocking, from which she 
poured upon the table the sum of 365 threepences — £4 us. 
3d. — exclaiming: 

"See, John, thee can have the holiday." 

" What is this ? " he asked in amaze. 

"It is my daily pint o' ale, John." 

He was conscience stricken as well as amazed. 

" Mary, hasn't thee had any share ? Then I'll ha' no more 
fro' this day." 

And he was as good as his word. They had their holiday 
with the old mother, and Mary's little capital, saved from the 



INTEMPERANCE. 281 

"pints o' ale," was the seed from which, as the years rolled on, 
grew shop, factory, warehouse, country-seat and carriage — 
with health, happiness and peace. 



HOW TO BREAK THE CHAIN* 



A MAN once said to me, "I was a pretty hard case; my 
wife used to be afraid of me, and my children used to 
run away from me when I came into the house; it was 
but a word, and then a blow or kick. When I was induced 
to put my name to the temperance pledge, the thought came 
into my mind, what my wife would say to this. Then I 
thought if I went in and told her all of a sudden it might 
make her faint. At another time I would have gone home 
and knocked her down, and then kicked her up again. Now 
I was going home thinking how I could break it to her and 
not hurt her ! So I thought I would try and break it to her 
.easy. When I got to the door, I saw her leaning over the 
embers of the fire. She looked up. I suppose she expected 
a blow or a curse as usual, and I said, ' Mary ? ' She did not 
turn ; again I said, ' Mary ? ' ' Well, Dick, what is it ? ' I said, 
' Mary, cannot you guess ?' She looked round at me, her face 
was very white. ' I say, Mary, I have been to the temperance 
meeting, and have put my name down on the pledge, and 
taken my oath that I will never take another drop.' She was 
on her feet in an instant. She did not faint away, but she got 
her arms around my neck and pulled me down on my knees, 
the first time I remember going down on my knees since I 
was a boy, when she said, ' O, God, bless my poor husband ! ' 
and I said, 'Amen.' 'Help him to keep that pledge,' and I 
said, 'Amen,' and she kept on praying. It was the first time 
we had ever prayed together, but it was not the last." 

A great many men have said to me, "I can reform without 
becoming a Christian; but I say this, within my experience, 
that nine out of ten, that try it fail. A gentleman that I know 

* Extracted from an address delivered in Boston by John B. Gough. 



282 INTEMPERANCE. 

after marrying into an excellent family, got so far abased as to 
drink a quart of brandy a day. How he stood it, no one 
knows. He had a loving wife, and three boys. One day, 
when in the house, he said to his wife, " Come, my dear, and 
sit on my knee." She came and sat, and then she said to him, 
" If my husband did not drink, I should be one of the happiest 
women in Canada." "Well," said he, "I married you to make 
you happy, and I ought to do everything I can to make you 
so, and if that will make you happy, I will never drink another 
drop as long as I live." That was seven years ago, and he 
has kept his word. That man had a mighty will, but I want 
to tell you something else. Walking with him up Young 
Street, one day last winter, he said, " You see that red saloon ? 
I have gone two blocks out of my way many a time to keep 
out of the way of that, but since I have got the Grace of God 
in my heart, I can go right by that place. I can cry to God 
and he helps me, and I can go right along." The first was a 
risk, but with God's help there was safety. 



MONEY WELL EXPENDED. 



CAPTAIN S. C. S., of Portland, was one day passing 
through one of the streets in Boston, when he saw a 
poor sailor lying on the side-walk, with his feet in the 
gutter, in such a position as to endanger his limbs, if not his 
life. Captain S. lifted him up, aroused him, and by degrees 
got his history. He belonged to a good family, who resided 
in the eastern part of Maine, had been well educated, and 
exhibited now the wreck of a brilliant intellect and amiable 
disposition. He said he had been sick, had stayed his time 
out in the Charlestown Hospital, and had that morning been 
discharged without a cent, and in so feeble a state as to dis- 
qualify him from going to sea again at present. "Then why 
don't you go home?" said Captain S. "I cannot pay my 
passage; I have no money," answered the desponding sailor. 
"Have you found anybody that would give you any break- 



IN TEMPER A XCE. 283 

fast?" said the Captain. "No," was the reply, "but I found a 
man who gave me something to drink, and, as I was very 
weak and very hungry, the liquor overcame me; but I am not 
so much intoxicated as I seem to be; I have my senses per- 
fectly well." How much will take you home?" inquired the 
Captain. "There is," said the tar, "a vessel lying at the wharf 
which would take me within two miles of my home for one 
dollar, and I would go if I only had the money." "Now 
shipmate," continued the Captain, "give me your hand, and 
look me straight in the eye. Now promise, upon the honor 
of a sailor, that you will never drink any more of the poison 
stuff, and I'll give you some breakfast, and pay your passage 
home." The sailor clasped his emaciated fingers around the 
rough hand of the Captain, and pronounced the pledge. Cap- 
tain S. handed him a bill, and saw him safe in the nearest 
public-house, and went his way. 

Some three years after, as Captain S. was passing along 
Exchange Street, in Portland, some one behind him called .out: 
"Captain! I say Captain! Halloo! Captain!" Captain S. 
turned around, and a well-dressed stranger grasped him by 
the hand, and inquired if he knew him. He confessed that he 
did not recollect ever having seen him before. The stranger, 
after several ineffectual attempts to refresh his memory, finally 
brought to his recollection the scene narrated above, and said 
that he was the sailor to whom the Captain had acted the part 
of the Samaritan, and insisted on returning four-fold for the 
money which had been bestowed on that occasion. All remu- 
neration was refused, and the young man was exhorted to go 
and do likewise. "I will with all my heart," said he, as the 
tears gathered in his eyes; "but I owe you a debt that I never 
can discharge. I have never broken my pledge, and with the 
help of God I never will. I went home after you left me, and 
through the entreaty of my friends, I commenced trading, and 
am now here to purchase goods. I have been prospered in 
business, and have been lately united to the woman of my 
choice. You were the means of saving both soul and body; 
for I have lately been made acquainted with the blessed Saviour 



284 INTEMPERANCE. 

of sinners. Oh ! if my poor old father could get hold of your 
hand, he would almost wring it from your body with grati- 
tude." The generous heart of the Captain was melted, for he 
loved the Saviour too. The flood-gates of his soul were 
opened, and they wept together like two children, shook hands 
again, exchanged a hearty "God bless you," and parted. 



3IY EXPERIENCE. 



A RECENT editorial in The Christian Advocate, in refer- 
ence to young men just beginning business life, attracted 
my attention. I have been over the road upon which 
they have entered, and at almost every step have seen its 
diverging paths. In early life I was "trained to be temperate, 
chaste and honest," and being ambitious, I determined to enter 
some mercantile business, for which purpose I visited the city 
of Baltimore. I had not an acquaintance on my arrival there, 
and but a few dollars to pay my expenses. On going to my 
room alone, my thoughts were, "I am in a strange city, far 
from home, without a friend, surrounded by dangers of every 
kind. I have my reputation and character as a professing 
Christian to maintain against fearful odds. What shall I do ? 
I will do this: "I here promise never to drink a drop of spirit- 
uous liquors as a beverage, or to be found in any place where 
I should be ashamed for my father or mother to see me; and 
I will look to the Lord in every trial to make a way for my 
escape." Then, kneeling down, I asked the Lord to help me 
keep my promise. I then did not know how soon the trial 
was to come. The next evening I was invited by two of my 
new acquaintances to take a walk to see the city, and, being 
unacquainted with city life, was glad to accept. After passing 
several squares we came in front of what was called the 
"Green House," into which it was proposed that we should go. 
I inquired, "What kind of a place is this?" "The Green 
House," they said; "only an oyster saloon." I replied, "You 
may go in, and I will wait for you here." "Come in, come in," 



INTEMPERA XCE. 285 

they exclaimed; "we will not stay two minutes." "No," I 
replied; "you go, if you wish, and I will wait here five minutes 
for you (looking at my watch), but if you are not out by that 
time, you will not find me here." I waited that space of time, 
and then returned to my hotel. That night one of those 
young men was brought in from the gutter, into which he had 
fallen intoxicated. I watched his downward course for several 
years, until I learned that a wave dashed him from the deck 
of a ship and he perished. The last I heard of his comrade 
was, that he, too, was fast hastening to a drunkard's grave. 
In Baltimore I soon obtained a situation, and at once gave it 
my undivided attention, and have now pursued the same busi- 
ness more than thirty years. To the present time, the promise 
I made is still unbroken, and largely to it, through the help of 
the Lord, I owe my success and escape from the snares into 
which I have seen so many fall; and I would say, as I once 
heard Alfred Cookman say to a young man just starting out, 
"Thomas, take God with you." 



THIRTY YEARS A DRUNKARD. 



THE Bible and Fruit Mission is doing a precious work; 
visiting hospitals and asylums to dispense spiritual and 
temporal aid to the suffering; going about doing good 
like the Master. Perhaps its greatest work is the establish- 
ment of a coffee and a lodging house, at 416 East 26th Street, 
where clean, wholesome food and beds are furnished at a very 
low price, and pleasant rooms provided, with free entertain- 
ments, where the poor may spend an evening enjoyably. The 
following account is taken from an annual report: 

"The first week our Coffee House opened in 1880, a most 
miserable man came in just as we were closing, and asked for 
food. He was the very worst specimen of the race we have 
ever seen, ragged in the extreme, his miserable garments tied 
on him by a heavy cord, filthy and decrepit from a long life 
of intemperance. As he stood at the desk, trembling in every 



286 INTEMPERANCE. 

limb, we inquired, 'What ever brought you to this abject 
condition?' 'Oh, lady,' he replied, 'don't scold me; there's 
no hope for me. I never can be any better. I was educated 
for a physician, but fell through liquor, and have now been 
thirty years a drunkard. I have a mother and a sister who 
are praying for me, but 'tis no use.' We pointed him to the 
drunkard's Friend, the Great Physician, from whom could 
come the only permanent cure, and, after furnishing him with 
some oatmeal and milk, saw him depart, believing this was 
indeed a hopeless case. 

"In the course of the following eighteen months, he was 
continually coming and going, never any better, if possible, 
worse. One day he came to the desk, saying, ' I want you to 
take the address of my mother,' — this he had always withheld. 
'I am going to the hospital to die, and do not wish to be 
buried in a pauper's grave. Do try and find out when I am 
dead, and send for my friends to take my body.' This last 
opportunity was not neglected to press earnestly upon him 
the greater importance of caring for his soul, but in his great 
physical weakness he seemed absorbed by the one idea, the 
dread of being buried in the potter's field. On making appli- 
cation at the hospital he was refused admittance. ' Go to the 
poor-house,' they said; 'we are sick and tired of you here.' 
So we went with him ourselves, procured the necessary pass, 
and saw him on the boat for Charity Hospital. 

"Two years passed away without our hearing anything 
from him, and we naturally concluded the poor fellow was 
filling the pauper's grave he so dreaded. A few days since, a 
gentlemanly, well-dressed man came to the desk, and asked, 
' Have you any oatmeal and milk ? ' Something in the tone 
of the voice induced us to look up, and, to our unutterable 
astonishment, we recognized in the speaker, the miserable 
creature we supposed had long ere this filled a drunkard's 
grave. ' Have you come from the dead ? ' we exclaimed. His 
laconic answer was, ' I came to God, and he forgave my sins 
for Christ's sake. My mother's prayers brought me back. 
She is eighty years old, but never gave up hope; she kept on 



INTEMPERANCE. 287 

praying to God for me even when she did not know whether 
I was living or dead. In the hospital I determined, with 
Christ's help, to give up drink. On leaving, I went direct to 
Belleville, N. J., and in passing through the streets saw the 
sign, 'Ark of Safety.' This is the place for me, I thought. 
I applied for admission, and there found a home and work, 
and now I am going through this city to preach to the lowest 
drunkards, and tell them there is salvation for them in Christ 
jesus.'" 



EFFECTS OF TEMPERANCE. 



W 



E entered, one day, a cottage in a suburb of Cork: a 
woman was knitting at the door; it was as neat and 
as comfortable as any in the most prosperous district 
of England. We tell her brief story in her own words, as 
nearly as we can recall them. "My husband is a wheel- 
wright, and always earned his guinea a week; he was a-good 
workman, and neither a bad man nor a bad husband, but the 
love for the drink was strong in him, and it was not often he 
brought home more than five shillings out of his pound on a 
Saturday night; and it broke my heart to see the poor children 
too ragged to send to school, to say nothing of the starved 
look they had out of the little I could give them. Well, God 
be praised, he took the pledge; and the next Saturday he laid 
twenty-one shillings upon the chair you sit upon. Oh ! didn't 
I give thanks on bended knees that night ? Still, I was fearful 
it wouldn't last. I spent no more than the five shillings I was 
used to, saying to myself, the money will be more wanted than 
it is now. Well, the next, week he brought me the same, and 
the next, and the next, until eight weeks passed, and there was 
no change for the bad in my husband; and all the while he 
never asked me why there was nothing better for him out of 
his hard earnings ; so I felt there was no fear for him ; and the 
ninth week when he came home to me, I had this table bought, 
and these six chairs — one for himself, four for the children, 
and one for myself. And I was dressed in a new gown, and 



288 INTEMPERANCE. 

the children all had new clothes and shoes and stockings, and 
upon his own chair I put a bran new suit; and upon his plate 
I put the bill and receipt for them all — just the eight sixteen 
shillings they cost that I had saved out of his wages, not 
knowing what might happen, and that always before went for 
drink. And he cried, good lady and good gentleman, he cried 
like a baby — but it was with thanks to God; and now where' s 
the healthier man than my husband in the county Cork, or 
happier wife than myself, or dacenter or better fed children 
than our own four?" 

It is most unlikely that such a family will again sink into 
poverty and wretchedness. 



STORY OF THE ENGINEER. 



ET me put my name down first — I can't stay long !" It 



L' 



was a red ribbon meeting, and the man was a loco- 
motive engineer, bronzed and strong, having eyes full 
of deep determination. He signed his name in a bold, plain 
hand, tied a red ribbon in his button hole, and as he left the 
hall, he said: 

"As the Lord looks down on me, I'll never touch liquor 
again." 

• "Have you ever been a hard drinker?" queried a man who 
walked beside the engineer. 

" No. Fact is, I was never drunk in my life. I've swallowed 
considerable whiskey, but I never went far enough to get 
drunk. I shouldn't miss it, or be worse off for an hour, if all 
the intoxicating drink in the world were drained into the 



ocean." 



" But you seemed very eager to sign the pledge." 

"So I was, and I'll keep to it through thick and thin, and 
talk temperance to every man on the road." 

"You must have strong reasons?" 

"Well, if you walk down to the depot, I'll tell you the story 
on the way. It hasn't been in the papers, and only a few of us 



INTEMPERANCE. 289 

know the facts. You know I run the night express on the 

B road. We always have at least two sleepers and a 

coach, and sometimes we have as many as two hundred pas- 
sengers. It's a good road, level as a floor and pretty straight, 
though there is a bad spot or two. The night express has the 
right of way and we make fast time. It's no rare thing for us 
to skim along at the rate of fifty miles an hour for thirty or 
forty miles, and we rarely go below thirty. One night I pulled 
out of Detroit with two sleepers, two coaches, and the baggage 
and mail cars. Nearly all the berths in both sleepers were full, 
and most of the seats in the coaches were occupied. It was a 
dark night, threatening all the time to rain, and a lonesome 
wind whistled around the cab as we left the city behind. 
We were seventeen minutes late, and that meant fast time all 
through. 

"Well," he continued, after a moment, "everything ran along 
all right until after midnight. The main track was kept clear 

for us, the engine was in good spirits, and we ran into D •- 

as smooth as you please. The express coming east should 

meet us fifteen miles west of D , but the operator at the 

station had failed to receive his usual report from below. This 
was strange and yet it was not, and after a little consultation 
the conductor sent me ahead. We were to keep the main 
track, while the other train would run in on the side track. 
Night after night our time had been so close, that we did not 
keep them waiting over two minutes, and were generally in 
sight when they switched in. 

" When we left D we went ahead at a rattling speed, 

fully believing that the other train would be on time. Nine 

miles from D is the little village of Parto. There was a 

telegraph station there but the operator has no night work. 
He closed his office and went home about nine o'clock, and 
any messages on the wires for him were held above or below 
until next morning. When I sighted this station I saw a red 
lantern swinging between the rails. Greatly astonished, I 
pulled up the heavy train, and got a bit of news that almost 
lifted me out of my boots. It was God's mercy, as plain as 



290 INTEMPERA NCE. 

this big depot. It was the operator who was swinging the 
lantern. He had been aroused from sleep by the whistles of 
a locomotive, when there wasn't one within ten miles of him. 
He heard the toot ! toot ! toot ! while he was dressing, and all 
the way as he ran to the station, thinking he had been sig- 
nalled. Lo ! there was no train there. Everything was as 
quiet .as the grave. The man heard his instrument clicking 
away, and leaning his head against the window he caught 
these words, as they went through to D : 

" ' Switch the Eastern express off quick ! Engineer on the 
Western express crazy drunk, and running a mile a minute ! ' 

"The operator signalled us at once. We had left D 

nine miles away, and the message couldn't have reached us 
anywhere except at Parto. It was time we were there, lacking 
one minute. We lost two or three minutes in understanding 
the situation and consulting, and had just got ready to switch 
in where we were, when the headlight of the other train came 
in view. How that train was flying ! The bell was ringing, 
sparks flying, and the whistle screaming, and not a man of us 
could raise a hand. We stood there on the main track spell- 
bound, as it were. There wouldn't have been time, anyhow, 
either to have switched in or got the passengers out. It wasn't 
over sixty seconds before that train was upon us. I prayed to 
God for a breath or two, and then shut my eyes and waited for 
death, for I hadn't the strength to get out of the cab. 

"Well, sir, God's mercy was revealed again. Forty rods 
above us that locomotive jumped the track, and was piled into 
the ditch in an awful mass. Some of the coaches were consid- 
erably smashed, and some of the people badly bruised, but no 
one was killed, and of course our train escaped entirely. The 
other engineer didn't get a bruise, but was up and across the 
field like a deer, screaming and shrieking like a mad tiger. It 
took five men to bind him after he was run down, and to-day 
he is the worst lunatic in the State. 

"Tom was a good fellow," continued the engineer, after a 
pause, " and he used to take his glass pretty regularly. I never 
saw him drunk, but the liquor kept working away on his 



/A r TEMPER A N CE. 291 

nerves till at last the tremens caught him, when he had a 
hundred and fifty lives behind his engine. He broke out all 
of a sudden. The fireman was thrown out of the engine, all 
steam turned on, and then Tom danced and screamed, and 
carried on like a fiend. He'd have made awful work, sir, but 
for God's mercy. I'm trembling yet over the way he came 
down for us. Nobody asked me to sign the pledge, but I 
wanted my name there. One such night on the road has 
turned me against intoxicating drinks, and now that I have 
got this red ribbon on, I can talk to the boys with a better face. 
Tom is raving, as I told you, and the doctors say he'll never 
get his reason again. Good night, sir — my train goes in ten 
minutes." 



A DOCTOR'S STORY. 



AT a social meeting of temperance reformers, held recently 
in the lecture hall of the National Temperance League, 
at 337 Strand, London, Dr. Munroe, of Hull, who has 
devoted much time to the study of the physiological action of 
alcohol, made the following remarkable statement, which we 
give in his own words: 

"With regard to the prescription of alcoholic beverages I 
will relate one circumstance. Some years ago, before I became 
a teetotaler, a man came to me to be cured of an abscess in 
his hand. I said to him : 

"'You will be obliged, during the time you are suffering 
from this large amount of suppuration which is taking place, 
to take a bottle of stout every day.' 

" ' But I am a teetotaler,' said my patient. 

"'O, but you must take it as a medicine/ 

"'Ah, but, Doctor, I was a drunken man once, and I should 
not like to try it.' 

" ' I believed the drink would do the man good, and said to 
him that if he did not choose to follow my advice he might 
consult another doctor. However, he took the stout and got 



292 INTEMPERANCE. 

better. I said to him afterward, 'You would have sacrificed 
your life for this little bottle of stout daily. It has saved your 
life; be thankful.' So he went away a cured man. I am sorry 
to say that only a few months after that, I was driving down 
one of our public thoroughfares, when I saw a poor, miserable, 
ragged-looking man standing against a public house door. It 
struck me at once that this was my late patient. I got out of 
my conveyance to see him. You know how severe a drunken 
man may be. He had been a member of a Wesleyan society, 
a prayer leader, an ornament to the church, and useful therein, 
before he came to me. I have heard him speak with great 
edification. 

'"Oh, S./ I said, 'is that you?' 

"'This is me,' he said, in a sarcastic tone, 'don't you know 
me?' 

'"I am ashamed of you,' I said. 

"'You have no right to be ashamed of me. You are my 
doctor. I was a teetotaler, but you sent me here, here to 
this public house, for your medicine, which saved my body 
but ruined my soul.' 

" He fell into the arms of two or three of his drunken com- 
panions, and I left him. I did not sleep that night, thinking 
about that man. I was not a teetotaler then, but it almost 
made me one. From that night I sought him out. He lived 
a little way from the town when I had last known him. His 
home was in a pleasant cottage with a little garden before it. 
He was a happy man in his family. Now, however, he was 
not there, and on inquiring where he had gone to, I found it 
was to a low part of the town. Here, in such a home as only 
a drunken man can live in, I found him upon a straw bed, 
sleeping off the effects of his previous night's debauch. His 
poor children were clothed in rags, and the appearance of his 
broken-hearted wife I shall not soon forget. I talked to the 
man, reasoned with, and succored him from that time, and 
never let him rest until he signed the pledge. It took him 
some time to recover his character in the church, and I had 
the happiness of seeing him restored to his place there; and 



INTEMPERANCE. 293 

now he has a larger class, is more popular than before, and 
has been a devoted worker in the temperance cause ever since. 
Can you wonder that I never again ordered strong drink for a 
patient ? " 



INTO BONDAGE AND OUT OF IT. 



WHILE in Van Diemen's Land, James Backhouse re- 
ceived a visit from a man formerly a prisoner, who 
gave some striking particulars of his life. He said 
the first occasion on which he took spirits was when going a 
short voyage; a little was given him in a vial, which he was 
charged to drink, lest he should take cold ! His father was a 
man who endeavored carefully to inculcate honest principles 
into his children, both by example and precept, and who used 
to ejaculate in a low tone on leaving his house, "The Lord 
preserve my going out and my coming in, from henceforth and 
forevermore ; " but he was a drunkard ! and his son was some- 
times sent to the public house to bring him home. On such 
occasions his father often gave him "a little sup" in the bot- 
tom of the glass, and was amused at the wry faces that his son 
made on drinking it. When the boy was able to drink a 
whole glassful, his father expressed great pleasure ! little antic- 
ipating that he was training his son, not only to drunkenness, 
but through drunkenness to dishonesty. 

At length his son became both a drunkard and a thief, and 
was transported for robbery. He was now a prisoner in bond- 
age in a foreign land; but years rolled on, and the term of his 
transportation expired; he regained his freedom, but not from 
the bondage of habitual drunkenness; this to him was more 
powerful than the bondage under the laws of his country. 
Many times he sold his shirt for drink, and, to use his own 
expression, parted with the flesh off his back for it also; for, 
while a prisoner, he was several times flogged for being drunk. 

As soon as he was loosed from the triangles, he hurried on 
his clothes, and with his back bleeding, went to the first place 



294 INTEMPERANCE. 

where drink was sold, and drank again ! Often the declaration, 
'' Drunkards shall not inherit eternal life," came awfully before 
his mind: he was alarmed, miserable, ashamed of himself, and 
he cried to God for deliverance. He joined the temperance 
society, resolved he would leave off the use of spirits, and 
drink only a little wine or beer; but these kept alive his 
depraved appetite. 

He began to attend the Methodist meeting, hoping thereby 
to gain strength; but in a few weeks he was again overcome 
by his old enemy, and being ashamed to be met in that condi- 
tion, he left the road and lost himself in the bush, where he 
remained all night in confusion. Still in the anguish of his 
soul, he cried unto the Lord for deliverance, and in this state 
he attended a meeting that we held at the Back River, New 
Norfolk, where his attention was directed to the Holy Spirit, 
as a witness against sin revealed in the secret of the heart, and 
as a guide, leading those who attend to its convictions to 
repentance, and to the bearing of the cross in the practice of 
self-denial; and giving them a sense of their weakness, in 
order that they may place their trust in the Lord alone, obtain- 
ing strength from Him to perform His will, and receive remis- 
sion of sins through Jesus Christ. 

These doctrines made a deep impression on this individual, 
and under the conviction wrought upon his mind, he sought 
Divine help to leave off the use of all stimulating liquors. He 
not only forsook the use of spirits, but of wine and beer; he 
also left off smoking and chewing tobacco; and to enable him 
the sooner to pay his debts, he likewise left off the use of tea 
and sugar. 

These privations were trying to him for a few weeks, after 
which the desire for such indulgence left him; and he is now 
in better health and spirits than before. Several persons have 
brought liquor to him and tried to persuade him to drink, say- 
ing that as he had drank, chewed and smoked so long, he 
would certainly die from leaving off these practices ! The 
poor man is now working for ten shillings per week as a 
builder, and is in a very humble, thankful state of mind; he 



INTEMPERA NCE. 295 

walks eight miles into town to attend our meetings, and is 
likely to stand his ground so long as he continues in humility 
and watchfulness. 



THE TWO PLEDGES. 

64 y ITTLE DENNIE," was the only son of a clergyman, 
_y who, some years since, lived on the shore of Lake 
George. This was before the commencement of the 
temperance reformation, when every family kept intoxicating 
liquors constantly on hand, and used them as an occasional, if 
not a daily beverage. Taught by the example of his father 
and his guests, the little boy contracted a love for strong 
drinks, that gave his parents most painful apprehensions on 
his account, and was the subject of their frequent but unavail- 
ing remonstrance. At length, at a barn raising he had been 
permitted to attend, and where he had free access to a keg of 
liquor, he became dead drunk, and was laid upon a board 
under a tree. The rest of the story we copy in the language 
of the author: 

"About four o'clock his father called to accompany him 
home ; not seeing him, he eagerly inquired for his child ; they 
pointed him to the place where he lay. With a heart full 
of sorrow, he carried him home to his mother and sisters. 
Together his parents watched beside his bed during the tedi- 
ous night that followed, not knowing but the dreadful stupor 
would result in his death; but fully resolved, if he lived, not 
to leave untried any effort that might promise to save him. 

" It was not until the evening of the second day that he was 
restored to perfect consciousness. His parents thought it best 
not to speak to him of the cause of his illness for some days, 
hoping his own reflections would do him much more good; 
but in this they were disappointed — he did not exhibit the 
first symptoms of remorse or consciousness that he had done 
wrong. 

"About a week after the event just related, his father invited 



296 INTEMPERANCE. 

him one pleasant morning to take a walk. Their road ran 
along the shore of a lake, and was lined with stately trees on 
either side. For a time they walked on in silence. 

"'Dennie,' said he, 'do you know what made you so sick 
the other day?' 

"'Why, I suppose I drank too much rum,' he artlessly 
replied. 

"'Well, my son, do you know that I think you are in dan- 
ger of becoming a drunkard ? ' 

"'Why, father, I know you*tell me so, but I am not afraid 
of it. You drink rum every day, and you are not a drunkard; 
and when I get old enough to know how much it will do for 
me to drink, then I can keep from being drunk too.' 

"They both seated themselves on a rock near the shore, and 
most faithfully did his father speak of the evils of intemper- 
ance ; then taking from his pocket a small gold watch, which 
Dennie had long desired to call his own, he said, 'De'nnie, if 
you will promise me that you will never drink any more rum, 
I will give you this gold watch. Will you do it?' 

" Rising from his seat, and looking his father full in the face, 
he replied, ' If it is wrong for me to drink rum, I scorn to be 
hired not to drink it. But I will tell you, sir, what I will do. 
If it is wrong for me to drink, it is wrong for you, and if you 
stop drinking, I will.' 

"Had a flash of lightning burst from the cloudless sky 
above them, his father would not have been more startled. 
' How could he preach or perform the laborious duties of a 
pastor without his daily glass of bitters ? How could he get 
up in a cold winter's night, and go pray by the bed of some 
dying parishioner, without a glass of something to prevent him 
taking cold ? How could he attend the various ecclesiastical 
meetings of the church without something to help him bear 
the fatigues of the journey?' The sacrifice was indeed great, 
but the welfare of his child demanded it. And summoning all 
his resolution, with a faltering voice, he replied, '/ will do it, 
my son! And thus they pledged themselves to Total Absti- 
nence there. 



INTEMPERANCE. 297 

"The lake, the trees, and the pure blue sky, being their only 
witnesses, save only that Holy Being who is everywhere. As 
they retraced their steps, his father, taking the little watch 
from his pocket, gave it to Dennie, and said, 'My son, you 
have long wished that I would give you this watch. It is now 
yours as long as you keep your promise. Should that ever be 
broken, I shall expect you to return it to me; till then, let it 
be a token to you of this promise we have now made.' 

" Years have passed, and little Dennie is now a distinguished 
clergyman in one of the most populous Western cities. Four 
bright little boys call him father. The same little gold watch 
decorates his parlor wall, and often does he point to it, and tell 
of his danger and his escape from the whirlpool of Intemper- 
ance." 



ONE YOUNG MAN'S "NO: 



M 



ANY a weak youth has escaped temptation because a 
stronger companion said "No," and many another has 
fallen because no such help was near. The following 
life-sketch (by an eye witness) details a scene in a hotel 
billiard-room, at a fashionable resort, where half a dozen young 
men were playing for money and the "drinks." An acquaint- 
ance having some errand to one of the players came in, and 
was boisterously urged to make one of the party to join in 
the game and bibulous indulgence. 

" Bring another hot Scotch ! " 

"Not for me," said Harry, peremptorily, and with a bit of 
color in his face. 

" O pshaw ! You won't play ? " 

"No, I don't wish to." 

"Nor you won't drink a bumper with us?" 

"Jack, you are going too far. I would drink if I wanted 
to. You would not force a man to drink who is not thirsty?" 

" O fudge ! Harry, you are afraid to risk a dollar ! You'd 
drink a hot Scotch or a glass of wine with us if you dared to 
play, I didn't know you had grown so timid," 



29S INTEMPERANCE. 

And now the young man's face flushed to some purpose. It 
was a handsome face, and he looked really grand — noble — as 
he drew himself up to his full, manly height 

" Boys, you have spoken freely to me ; let me say a word to 
you in reply. I am timid — I confess. I am fearful ; but you 
know — you know very well — that I do not fear the loss of a 
dollar. I will tell you presently what I do fear. Do you 

remember D H ? " naming a young man, who, not a 

year previously, had been apprehended, tried and convicted of 
forgery and embezzlement to a large amount; and was at this 
time serving his penalty in the State Prison. And further than 
that a young man — a trusted bookkeeper and cashier — but had 
been intimate with these very young men. 

"You remember him, I know," Harry continued, "and you 
can remember the time when he was as jovial and happy over 
his billiards and whiskey, and his gambling, as you are now. 
O, do not wince ! I call it by its right name. If it is not 
gambling, what is it ? Ah, boys ! if Dan had been a little 
fearful in those days, he might have been differently situated 
now." 

He paused a moment, looked around upon the players, and 
presently added, in a lower tone and with deep solemnity : 

"And now, boys, I'll tell you frankly of what I am afraid. I 
have a mother — ^ou .know whether she loves me or not — and 
I have a dear sister, looking to me for comfort and joy in life. 
I have also a business character, and I trust a broad, bright 
future before me. Must I tell you — I am afraid — I shrink in 
mortal dread from anything that can endanger these sacred 
interests. Not for all the wealth of the world would I know- 
ingly and willingly bow my mother's head in sorrow. And 
since the appearance of evil may weaken the prop of a sterling 
character I will try to avoid that. Now, you understand me. 
Go on, if you will; enjoy yourselves, if you can. It would be 
misery for me to join you here. 

"One word more, If anything of this interview should 
become known abroad, be sure I did not tell it, for my lips 
will be closed when I go from you." 



IN TEMPER ANCE. 299 

He then called aside the young man whom he had called to 
see, who, after a brief conversation with Harry, put up his cue, 
and announcing he should not go on with the game, quietly 
went out with his friend. 

Two balls remaining on the table were not pocketed. The 
game was suffered to end where it stood. There was a ques- 
tion asked by one of the remaining five as to what should be 
done with the money in the "pot." The chief answered 
instantly, and without argument, by giving each man back his 
dollar. Then they put their heads together, and after the con- 
fab, which I could not overhear, they left the place, leaving full 
one-half the drink in their glasses untouched. 

Six months later I had occasion to spend another night at 
the same house, and during my sojourn I spoke to the host of 
the six young men whom I had seen engaged in that game of 
pool. He knew what I meant because I had told him the 
story at the time. 

He answered that three of those youths had not been seen 
in the billiard-room since that evening, two of them had occa- 
sionally dropped in together and had a social game; but had 
neither put up money nor drank. Of the sixth one he would 
not speak. 

And then I thought of the personal influence of that young 
man. And the end is not yet. The end no man can see. 



A CHILD'S INFLUENCE. 



SOME twenty-five years ago a man came to me desiring to 
join our Temperance society. He said, "I am deter- 
mined to try and be a man. I have as good a wife as 
any man, and three lovely little girls ; and yet like a fool, I am 
spending the most of my earnings for whiskey. I am now 
under the influence of whiskey; have been on a spree for a 
week. I never go home when on a spree, for the place would 
be too warm for me. I determined this morning that I would 
'call off' and go home. So soon as I took my seat, one of 



3 oo INTEMPERANCE. 

my little ones, my pet, came to me as usual, and sat upon my 
knee. Looking up into my face, at the same time stroking 
down my hair with her little hands, she asked me : 

"'Papa, do you love me?' 

"'Yes, my child.' 

"This was repeated twice. The last time she asked the 
question, I said, 'Why do you ask me if I love you ? Do you 
not know that I love you ? ' 

"With tears running down her little cheeks, she said, 'Well, 
papa, if you love me, why do -you let me be called a ' drunk- 
ard's child?"' 

He was received, and became a highly esteemed and hon- 
ored man. He removed from our town, and when under very 
strong temptation — led into temptation and sin by improper 
association-— he violated his pledge, but was restored. He 
finally removed to a small town in East Tennessee, where he 
established himself in a good business, and lived an honored 
and highly esteemed citizen until called for his reward. 

I saw him a few months before his death. He was then 
confined to his room by protracted sickness, but was waiting 
patiently the coming of the Master. He died in peace. 

In giving the foregoing statement, I have written it for the 
purpose of bearing testimony to the power and influence of 
children for good, when properly trained by their mothers. 
The mother was a Christian; and the child but reflected, under 
the influence of the Spirit, the teachings of the mother. 



CAN GOB DESTROY THE APPETITE?* 



" For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the 
works of the devil." — I John, 3: 8. 

THE Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of 
the devil. If this terrible curse of intemperance is not 
the work of the devil, I do not know what is. When 
we had our civil war on hand, a great many were driven to 

* From an address by D. L. Moody, in Boston. 



INTEMPERANCE. 301 

God in prayer, and we thought that the war was the greatest 
curse that ever visited this nation. But it strikes me that this 
curse of intemperance is worse. That cut off a great many 
men — ten, twenty, thirty, perhaps forty years earlier than their 
time; but think of the men that are being ruined, body and 
soul, by this curse; and my only hope is that the nation will 
get their eyes open to the fact that it is a curse, and that there 
will be a cry going up to God, that He may wipe out this 
terrible iniquity. 

What are we going to do to stem this terrible torrent of 
iniquity ? We have tried a great many methods, and I don't 
know but I am getting discouraged with all these things. I 
am coming to the conclusion that the only hope is that the 
Son of God is to come and destroy man's appetite. You can- 
not legislate men to be good. We have failed, and now it is 
time for us to appeal to God. I am thoroughly convinced 
that if drunkards will only get done leaning upon their own. 
strength, and call upon God to destroy the appetite, He will 
do it, for He was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. 

Don't condemn the drunkards. They don't need that, for 
they condemn themselves more than any one else could; they 
are to be pitied and not condemned. What we want is to go 
to them full of love and tell them that there is power in the 
Gospel of the Saviour. I used to get discouraged in working 
in the temperance cause, for I have been a worker in it ever 
since I have known Christ, but in the last year I have been 
more encouraged than ever before, because I have been work- 
ing on a new line. I used to appeal to men to sign the pledge, 
and they used to do so and then break it. But I have given 
that all up; my only hope is that they will join Christ and 
lean upon the arm of God — lean upon his almighty arm, and 
then there is victory for them. But some of you may say, 
"Don't these men, who profess to be Christians, fall, too?" 
Yes; but it is because they trust in- their own strength. If 
they trust in God they do not fall. Why, just read Isaiah 41 : 
13: "For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying 
unto thee, fear not, I will keep thee. In me is thy help." 



3 02 INTEMPERANCE. 

God can give you help. If God has hold of the drunkard's 
right hand, He will not lead him into the rum saloon; He will 
not lead him into temptation, but away from it; and not only 
that, if Satan trips him up he shall not fall, for God has hold 
of his right hand. If the Lord God, who created heaven and 
earth, has hold of the drunkard's right hand, cannot He hold 
it and keep it ? So let us tell them that there is hope, that the 
Son of Man was made manifest to destroy their appetites, and 
He can do it and take them away; He can turn their tastes 
against it, and if that is done, it will soon close up the saloons. 
In one of our last temperance meetings in Chicago, a business 
man got up and told the most remarkable story I had heard 
for several years. He said that eight years before he was a 
confirmed drunkard. His father used to give him liquor when 
he was a little boy four or fives years old in England, and died 
a vagrant and drunkard. The son's friends had all left him in 
Chicago, and he had been taken into court and pronounced a 
vagrant and sent off to jail. And now his only fear was the 
policemen, and his only ambition was to just keep out of the 
hand of the law, and to drink liquor all day, and sleep at night 
wherever he could. One night he went down to the lake 
shore and there was a terrible storm, and for the first time in 
his life he cried to God to help him. That was eight years 
ago, and he said: "My friends, although a vagrant and an out- 
cast, God met me there on the lake shore; He took hold of 
my right hand, and I have never had any taste for liquor since; 
He has kept me for eight years." Now I believe that. I 
believe the statement he made that God destroyed it, root and 
branch. 

How many times have men told me that they have gone 
and taken blood out of their veins and signed the pledge, gone 
before a magistrate and taken an oath, gone and bowed down 
upon their mother's grave, and sworn by the love they had for 
their mother they would never touch it, and inside of thirty 
days they were down in the gutter again ! Some people tell 
us that there is something very noble in all men, and appeal 
to that noble thing in a man and he will rise above it. But I 



INTEMPERANCE. 303 

am done appealing to that; I appeal to God in Heaven — that 
is where to appeal. Men have not the power. If they had, 
the Son of Man would never have come into this world to 
save men. I have done telling men to reform themselves — 
they cannot do it; and when they have got to the end of 
reforming themselves and will come to God, He will help 
them. 



STAND OUT FROM THE DANGER.' 



WE WERE fast approaching Cape Hatteras. Already 
its dim outline was appearing to the southwest, and 
we were anticipating a close run to its rocky shores, 
when suddenly the order to tack was given, and we stood out 
in the Atlantic, leaving the cape far astern. 

" Is not the water deep enough to make a closer run to the 
shore?" asked Adjutant Culver, who was impatient to' get a 
good sight of land after the three days' voyage. 

" Certainly," answered the captain, gazing off to the south 
at the signs of an approaching storm. 

"But, why, then, did we tack out here?" asked the adjutant. 

"Because," replied the captain, "if in running close to the 
cape we had become in any way disabled, we might have 
drifted on the rocks and have been wrecked. A good sailor, 
when possible, stands out from the danger." 

When I see a young man leaving the pure influences of the 
home circle, and spending his hours in places where drink and 
gambling have their programme, although he may be present 
only as a spectator, yet I tremble for his safety, and long to 
warn him to stand out from the danger. 

When I see the moderate drinker indulge in his occasional 
glass, and looking down with a contemptuous smile on the 
fanatical temperance people, I know that he is sailing close 
along the rocks of intemperance, and that his only safety is to 
stand out from the danger. 

When I see fair hands proffer the sparkling wine to the 



3 04 INTEMPERANCE. 

noble and gifted, I think what a terrible wreck theirs would be 
if the rocks were encountered, and I crave that the scales may 
fall from the eyes of the tempted, so that they may stand out 
from the danger. 



SAVED BY HIS CHILDREN. 



THEODORE L. CUYLER tells the story of a physician 
who escaped ruin by the mimicking of his children. 
He began his professional life with the brightest pros- 
pects, and being thoroughly educated and skillful, soon won a 
large and fashionable practice. His danger was in the baneful 
custom of social wine drinking in fashionable gatherings and 
at aristocratic dinners. The young physician was witty and 
agreeable, a welcome guest everywhere. The rich petted him. 
At their tables he found the social glass. He drank. His 
appetite was aroused. It grew strong. Soon he could not 
control it. He, neglecting his business, sank lower, losing 
patrons and friends, till he became a staggering drunkard. 
His wife and children wanted the necessaries of life. Close 
before him and them waited the rum pauper's inevitable fate. 

One Sunday, when, half-sobered after a night of excess, he 
was likely to remain awhile at home, his wife went to church, 
and left him with his two little boys. While the children 
played about the room, he lay upon a lounge and sank into a 
torpid sleep. Presently their noise awoke and angered him, 
but on opening his eyes he saw what struck him dumb. His 
little six-year old son was staggering across the floor and 
tumbling in exact imitation of an intoxicated man. The other 
boy, older than he, laughed with delight at his performance. 

" That's just like papa; let's both play drunk!" he cried, 
and then joined his brother in the sport. How the agony of 
conscience awoke in that fallen father's breast ! Had he lived 
to become such an infamous pattern to those innocent little 
ones ? When next the wretched man left his house, it was not 
to go to the dramshop — nor to visit a patient. He had no 



INTEMPERANCE. 305 

patient. He went forth to suffer his own self-accusings, and 
think of his own sadly-heeded cure. In misery he wandered 
through the fields. The sight he had seen had exposed him 
to himself, smiting him with ceaseless rebukes. But it saved 
him, for it broke his heart, and drove him to the Divine Healer 
for help and grace. Alone with God he registered a vow that 
he would drink no more. He was still young, and recovery 
and returning prosperity rewarded the keeping of his solemn 
pledge. 



/ MEAN BUSINESS." 



A DRUNKEN engineer, who by the grace of God, had 
become a Christian, and been enabled entirely to 
relinquish the use of strong drink, thus relates his 
experience : 

"It is about seven months since the Lord found me, and 
made known his love for me. I am an engineer on the rail- 
road, and was a drunkard. Many a time have I been in liquor 
when on the engine, and many is the time I have held on to 
the throttle-valve with my train leaping over the ground and 
my heart aching, and the sweat rolling off me, and tears in my 
eyes, yet desperate and half mad, aroused at last to see what I 
was doing, and sobered by the thought to slacken the speed. 
Oh, how many nights have I gone plunging into darkness that 
seemed Egyptian, bearing loads of unconscious ones, when, if 
anything had been in the way, all would have been dashed to 
pieces. 

" It was on my engine and while drunk that the Spirit con- 
victed me of sin. I was led to think of what I was and what 
an awful doom was before me as a sinner. But I was sober 
when I was converted. I saw what Christ had done for just 
such lost ones, and just because I was a lost sinner I learned 
that it was for me. 

"Very soon after my conversion, when I drove my engine 
up to the old stopping-place where I was accustomed to take a 



306 INTEMPERANCE. 

meal, and sometimes to drink besides, I saw my old compan- 
ions there ready for me. As soon as they saw me they called 
out, ' Here comes Tom, now we'll have a good time.' " 

" I hope you did not go near them, nor go into the saloon 
with them, but avoided them altogether," said one of the 
crowd of listeners who had gathered around the dear man. 

"That was what was first suggested to me. I think it must 
have been Satan, though," answered the man. "This was my 
dining place regularly, and as I had helped them to serve the 
devil there, it seemed to come clearly to my mind that I should 
now testify of my new Master. So I looked up to Him in my 
hour of need, and went in and took my seat at the table and 
began to eat. 

"Soon they pressed me to drink as usual; but I told them 
I could not do it, I belonged to the Lord Jesus now. They, 
of course, began to ridicule me at first. But I told them how 
the Lord had met me, and what he had done for me, and they 
quieted down under this. Since that time the Lord has con- 
verted every one of them. 

" I do not know how it is, but I have found enough to do 
just to tell of his work, with and for me and in me. And 
sometimes I have been sent for to talk with others. Once 
when I was sent for to see a friend that was very sick, he asked 
me to pray for him. I did not know just what to say, but I 
concluded to tell the Lord just what was in my heart. So I 
knelt down by his bed-side and all I could say was, ' O Lord ! 
I mean business.' 

"This may seem strange to you, but He understood me and 
knew the business in hand, which was the conversion of this 
man. And he was converted. That was enough for me. 

"Well friends, I have known what they call the pleasures 
of sin in this world, and they are nothing but sorrow and evil. 
And I know what the Lord can be and do for a poor lost one 
like me. I have no desire for the old ways. He keeps me, 
and He will keep me to the end." 



INFIDELITY. 



THE DEATH-BED OF AN AWAKENED INFIDEL. 



HENRY H , a young man whose happiness was 
undermined by the specious infidelity of the Owenite 
principles, died in London, whence he had arrived from 
Maidstone, in the autumn of 1831. His education had been 
liberal; his disposition was kind; his manners pleasing and 
courteous. Like many other young men, however, he had 
greedily perused those publications so widely circulated at the 
present day, the leading principles inculcated in which, are 
deism or atheism. In addition to this he had become a 
constant attendant at the places where these principles were 
publicly maintained. The result was that he became an unbe- 
liever. The Bible and everything pertaining to it were now 
objects of aversion to him. Those parts of it which were 
above his comprehension, he condemned as irrational; its 
plain and practical precepts he turned into ridicule. 

The advice and example of the relation, under whose roof 
he was, produced no change. Poor Henry had been taught 
to believe that the Bible produced taxation and suffering, 
discontent and disunion. All forms of worship were alike 
abjured by him. In the belief or disbelief of an hereafter, he 
was in a state of wavering and uncertainty. 

On the 27th of the Eleventh month, he was in the enjoy- 
ment of excellent health, and full of life and gaiety, and while 
walking with the writer, in Brunswick Square, he was strenu- 



308 INFIDELITY. 

ously maintaining the position that death was only a change 
of one form of matter to another, and was advocating the 
principles of Owen and other infidel writers. Before three 
weeks he was a corpse, and within a few yards from where 
he had been conversing, was consigned to the grave. On the 
29th he complained of headache — his disease was the small- 
pox. About the sixth or seventh day of his illness, he became 
restless and uneasy, and from certain impressions, it appeared 
that something lay heavy upon his mind. Calling me from 
the next room, he said, "I wish you would not leave me; I 
am not happy. Look at me (holding up both his hands), see 
what a figure I am become, and all within these few days. 
When we were walking together last week, who would have 
thought of this?" He then put some papers into my hands, 
requesting that I would deliver them to a person who had 
often accompanied him to the meetings of the unbelievers. 
"Do me this favor, it is not likely that I shall ever see him; I 
have no wish to do so. Even if I were able, I should never 
visit those haunts of infidelity again. What do my visits to 
them avail me now ? Nothing, worse than nothing ! What 
consolation have I now from what I have of late been taught 
to believe ? " Two days before his death he was heard crying 
out, " O, my Lord and my God, do thou forgive me ! " Ejacu- 
lations of this kind were continued by him for hours together. 
To a person who attended him he often repeated, " How can I 
bear this heavy visitation ? Have mercy upon me. O God, 
do thou assist me ! Oh, how I have been deluded ! Into 
what errors I have fallen!" And calling on his Saviour, 
exclaimed, " Have mercy upon me ! O God, do thou assist 
me !" The day before he died, he said, "I shall very soon be 
numbered with the dead. I have one request to make; will 
you promise to fulfill it ? Tell Owen that I listened to him 
with attention, and that, as a young man, I was pleased with 
his philosophy. But tell him at the same time, I would now 
give worlds that I had never heard it ; it was vanity, on my 
part, and on his, foolishness. Tell him also, not to lead other 
young men astray as he did me. I was wrapped up in him, 



INFIDELITY, 309 

and was deluded, fatally deluded. Beseech him to search the 
Scriptures with a desire to understand them, and not for the 
purpose of cavilling and unprofitable dispute. A few days 
ago I was in health like him; see me now. Tell him, from a 
dying young man, not to trust in his philosophy; it will not 
console him when he is as I am." Exhausted with speaking, 
he disengaged his hands, which had been clasped in those of 
his friend ; and after dozing a short time resumed : " One more 

request, S ; for my sake, I hope you will not forget it. I 

was often accompanied to those lectures by E. W . Tell 

her affectionately for me, if she values her peace here, and her 
happiness hereafter, to avoid those assemblies where every- 
thing serious is scoffed at. I shall never see her again ; but 
oh, tell her for me, that except she repent, she cannot see God; 
that which I have listened to in her company is now a source 
of bitterness and remorse to me, but that the goodness of the 
Almighty gives me on my death-bed, peace and hope, and that 
I die in charity with all men." At one o'clock in the morning 
of the 15th, he had only strength enough to exclaim,' "My 
God, I am an orphan child, have mercy upon me; O, Jesus, I 
come." And a little after two he quietly expired. 



AN INFIDEL STRANGELY CONVERTED. 



A NATIVE of Sweden, residing in the south of France, 
had occasion to go from one port to another in the 
Baltic Sea. When he came to the place from whence 
he expected to sail, the vessel was gone. On inquiring, he 
found a fishing-boat going the same way, in which he 
embarked. After being; for some time out at sea, the men 
observing that he had several trunks and chests on board, 
concluded that he must be very rich, and therefore agreed 
among themselves to throw him overboard. This he heard 
them express, which gave him much uneasiness. However, 
he took occasion to open one of his trunks, which contained 
some books. Observing this, they remarked among them- 



310 INFIDELITY. 

selves that it was not worth while to throw him into the 
sea, as they did not want any books, which they supposed 
was all the trunks contained. They asked him if he were 
a priest. Hardly knowing what reply to make, he told them 
that he was; at which they seemed much pleased, and said 
they would have a sermon on the next day, as it was the 
Sabbath. 

This increased the anxiety and distress of his mind, for he 
knew himself to be as incapable of such an undertaking as it 
was possible for any one to be, as he knew very little of the 
Scriptures; neither did he believe in the inspiration of the 
Bible. 

At length they came to a small rocky island, perhaps a 
quarter of a mile in circumference, where there was a company 
of pirates, who had chosen this little sequestered place to 
deposit their treasures. He was taken to a cave, and intro- 
duced to an old woman, to whom they remarked that they 
were to have a sermon preached the next day. She said she 
was very glad of it, for she had not heard the word of God 
for a great while. His was a trying case, for preach he must; 
still he knew nothing about preaching. If he refused, or 
undertook to preach and did not please, he expected it would 
be his death. With these thoughts he passed a sleepless 
night. In the morning his mind was not settled upon any- 
thing. To call upon God, whom he believed to be inaccessible, 
was altogether in vain. He could devise no way whereby he 
might be saved. He walked to and fro, still shut up in dark- 
ness, striving to collect something to say to them, but could 
not think of even a single sentence. 

When the appointed time for the meeting arrived, he 
entered the cave, where he found the men assembled. There 
was a seat prepared for him, and a table with a Bible on it. 
They sat for the space of half an hour in profound silence; 
and even then, the anguish of his soul was as great as human 
nature was capable of enduring. 

He then arose and delivered the following, "Verily, there is 
a reward for the righteous: verily, there is a God that judgeth 



INFIDELITY. 311 

in the earth." Other words presented themselves, and so on 
until his understanding became opened — his heart enlarged 
in a manner astonishing to himself. He spoke upon sub- 
jects suited to their condition; the rewards of the righteous 
— the judgments of the wicked — the necessity of repentance 
and the importance of a change of life. The matchless love 
of God to the children of men, had such a powerful effect 
upon the minds of these wretched beings, that they were 
melted into tears. Nor was he less astonished at the un- 
bounded goodness of Almighty God, in thus interposing to 
save his spiritual as well as his natural life, and well might 
he exclaim, "This is the Lord's doings, and marvelous in 
our eyes." Under a deep sense of God's goodness, his heart 
became filled with such thankfulness, that it was out of 
his power to express. What marvelous change was thus 
suddenly brought about by Divine interposition ! He, who 
a little before disbelieved in God, was now humbled before 
Him. And they who were meditating his death were moved 
to affection. 

The next morning they put him in one of their vessels, and 
conveyed him where he desired. From that time he was a 
changed man. From an infidel he became a believer in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. 



A DEVOTED PASTOR. 



N a time of revival in a certain church and congregation, 
the pastor urged one of his brethren, an able and skill- 
ful lawyer, to converse with a scoffing infidel of their 
acquaintance. "You know," said he, "that R. comprehends an 
able argument as well as any of us; and you and I have often 
seen how his eye will kindle under a compact and well-drawn 
argument. Now, can you not go over with him, the proofs on 
which the Christian system rests ? " 

"I have done that already," said the lawyer, "and he 
heard me through patiently, and then pounced upon my argu- 



312 INFIDELITY. 

ments like a tiger on his prey. Then he wound up with 
bitter reproaches, which made me dread to encounter him 
again." 

One of the elders of the church had been also to visit the 
infidel, and met with a like reception, and he made similar 
objections to hi-s pastor to visiting the infidel again. But on 
the subsequent evening -he was led, by the Spirit of God, to 
wrestle before the throne with most agonizing prayer in that 
infidel's behalf. At intervals, he continued all night present- 
ing his case before God, and praying for his conversion and 
salvation, as a man would pray for a friend's life on the eve of 
his execution. 

Prayer was followed by corresponding effort, and not long 
after, in the crowded church, R. stood up, a changed man, to 
relate his Christian experience. 

"I am as a brand," said he, "plucked out of the burning. 
The change in my views and feelings is astonishing to myself; 
and all brought about by the grace of God and that unanswer- 
able argument. 

" It was a cold morning in January, and I had just begun 
my labor at the anvil in my shop, when I looked out and saw 
the elder B. approaching. As he drew near, I saw he was 
agitated — his look was full of earnestness. His eyes were 
bedimmed with tears. He took me by the hand. His breast 
heaved with emotion. With indescribable tenderness, he said, 
' R., I am greatly concerned for your salvation ! ' and he burst 
into tears. He often essayed to speak, not a word could he 
utter; and finding that he could say no more, he turned, went 
out of the shop, mounted his horse, and rode slowly away. 

'"Greatly concerned for my salvation', said I, audibly, and I 
stood and forgot to bring my hammer down. 'Greatly con- 
cerned for my salvation' Here is a new argument, thought I, 
for religion, which I never heard before, and I know not how 
to answer it. Had the elder reasoned with me, I could have 
confounded him; but here is no threadbare argument for the 
truth of religion. Religion must move the soul with benevo- 
lent, holy, mighty impulses, or this man would not feel as he 



INFIDELITY. 313 

does. ' Greatly concerned for my salvation ' — it rung through 
my ears like a thunder-clap in a clear sky. 'Greatly con- 
cerned ought I to be for my own salvation,' said I; 'what 
shall I do to be saved ? ' 

" I went into my house. My poor pious wife, whom I had 
so often ridiculed for her religion, exclaimed, 'Why, R., what 
is the matter with you ? ' ' Matter enough,' said I, filled with 
agony — ' Matter enough. Elder B. has ridden two miles this 
cold morning to tell me he was greatly concerned about my 
salvation. What shall I do ?' She advised me to go and see 
him. No sooner said than done. I mounted my horse and 
pursued after him. I found him alone in that same little room 
where he had spent the whole night in prayer for my poor 
soul. 'I am come,' said I to him, 'to tell you I am greatly 
concerned for my own salvation.' 

"'Praised be God,' said the elder. 'It is a faithful saying 
and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the 
world to save sinners, even the very chief ; ' and he began, at 
the same Scripture, and preached unto me Jesus. On the 
same floor we knelt, and together we prayed. And here per- 
mit me to say, if you would reach the heart of such a poor 
sinner as I, you must get your qualification where the good 
elder did his, in your closet and on your knees." That con- 
verted infidel long outlived the elder, and was the means of 
the conversion of many. 



THE ASTONISHED INFIDEL, OR THE POWER OF THE 

BIBLE. 



A VIRGINIA banker, who was the chairman of a noted 
infidel club, was once traveling on horseback through 
Kentucky, having with him bank bills of the value of 
twenty-five thousand dollars. W T hen he came to a lonely 
forest where robberies and murders were said to be frequent, 
he was soon "lost" through taking a wrong road. The dark- 
ness of night came quickly over him, and how to escape from 



3 H INFIDELITY. 

the threatened danger he knew not. In his alarm, he sud- 
denly espied in the distance a dim light, and, urging his horse 
onward, he at length came to a wretched-looking cabin. He 
knocked, and the door was opened by a woman, who said 
that her husband was out hunting, but would shortly return, 
and she was sure he would cheerfully give him shelter for the 
night. The gentleman "tied up his horse, and entered the 
cabin, but with feelings which may be better imagined than 
described. Here he was with a large sum of money, alone, 
and perhaps in the house of one of those robbers, whose 
name was a terror to the country. 

In a short time the man of the house returned. He had 
on a deer-skin hunting shirt, a bear-skin cap, seemed much 
fatigued, and in no talkative mood. All this boded the infidel 
no good. He felt for his pistols in his pocket, and placed 
them so as to be ready for instant use. The man asked the 
stranger to retire to bed, but he declined, saying that he 
would sit by the fire all night. The man urged, but the more 
he urged the more the infidel was alarmed. He felt assured 
that this was his last night on earth, but he determined to sell 
his life as dearly as he could. His infidel principles gave him 
no comfort. His fears grew into a perfect agony. What was 
to be done ? 

At length the backwoodsman rose, and reaching to a 
wooden shelf, he took down an old book, and said, "Well, 
stranger, if you won't go to bed, / will; but it is my custom 
always to read a chapter of Holy Scripture before I go to 
bed." 

What a change did these words produce ! Alarm was at 
once removed from the skeptic's mind. Though avowing 
himself an infidel, he had now confidence in the Bible. He 
felt that the man who kept an old Bible in the house, and read 
it, and bent his knees in prayer, was no robber nor murderer. 
He listened to the simple prayer of the good man, at once 
dismissed all his fears, lay down in that rude cabin and slept 
as calmly as he did under his father's roof. From that night 
he ceased to revile the good old Bible. He became a sincere 



INFIDELITY. 315 

Christian, and often related the story of his eventful journey, 
as the best proof he could possibly give of the folly of 
infidelity, 



AN UNBELIEVER'S DEATH-BED. 



The following is from the graphic pen of our valued friend, James Kite^ 
deceased, written after visiting the death-bed of one, who in early life, had been 
an intimate friend; but who, at a later period, had become an infidel. It is no 
fancy sketch, but faithfully portrays the sad scene he witnessed, and the deep 
agonies of the last hours of his fife. 

SOUNDS of deep lamentation met my ear, 
As I approached his chamber. At the door 
I paused a moment to compose my mind, 
To meet the scene of suffering within. 
At length I entered — Stretched upon his bed, 
In the last stages of a dire disease, 
Lay the companion of my youthful hours, 
And the loved friend of manhood's early years. 
Alas ! how altered — then, all health and bloom, 
And joyful in his purity he stood, 
Blessed with bright talents, known to be admired, 
And crowned with virtues, known to be beloved ; 
Now, he not only lay in the firm grasp 
Of that dreadful and incurable disease, 
But worse — far worse, his soul tormented too 
By the swift witness of offended God — 
A wounded conscience, fearfully revived, 
And quickened as the hour of death drew nigh 
To claim its office, and assert its power. 
He had become an infidel ! The gifts 
And graces, which in early life had served 
God, their Great Giver, had of later years, 
Been prostituted to the vilest use — 
Spent in unholy efforts to assail 
With ridicule and blasphemy, that faith — 
That only faith, which triumphs over death 5 
And robs the dark cold grave of victory. 
His relatives well knew all human skill 
Was unavailing, and the close at hand \ 



316 INFIDELITY. 

And they were gathered round him : — brothers gazed 

In speechless agony, and sisters wept. 

Their ancient father leaned upon the bed 

In mournful silence, while his mother bent, 

With feelings which no language can portray, 

Over her guilty, yet still cherished son — 

Her eldest born, — now launching out of time, 

His body writhing with disease and pain, 

And his soul frenzied by its weight of sin. 

" Mother," said he, "I'm dying, and must go 

Where thy pure spirit will not, cannot be — 

I sink into the bottomless abyss ! 

But thou shalt rise in glory, to that God 

Whom thou hast served, tut whom I have reviled. 

Farewell forever, brothers, sisters, all ; 

My voice is failing — life is ebbing fast — 

Yet I must leave this legacy behind : 

Shun, I beseech you, as you value all 

Dear to you here—shun, as you wish to find 

Felicity hereafter — shun the path, 

The downward path of infidelity, 

And seek your Saviour, and obey his will. 

Behold a mournful monument in me ! — 

Oh ! had I followed, as Christ showed the way, 

By His inspeaking Spirit in my heart, 

And turned from flattery's deadly breath, 

The unforgiven sin which weighs me down, 

Would never have been mine. But oh ! alas, 

Flattered by faithless infidels, I plead 

Their cause on earth, and shall forever reap 

Their awful harvest in the world to come ; 

But weep not, mother. Listen to my words, — 

For I have had, since stretched upon this bed, 

Indubitable evidence to prove 

There is, indeed, a solemn after scene — 

A heaven of joy — a hell of bitter woe. 

Oh ! I have seen them both. I gazed upon 

The realms of gladness and the holy saints 

And angels gathered round the throne of God ; 

And I have seen — oh, yes ! indeed I have — 



INFIDELITY. 317 

The place of woe — the burning lake of fire — 
The soul's dread canker — the undying worm. 
Yes ! and the countless myriads who are there ; 
Oh ! I was there myself — I was indeed — 
The worm was gnawing at my very soul — 
The fire consuming, oh, but for a drop 
Of water to extinguish scorching flames ; — 
No, they can never, never more be quenched. 
Mother ! I am dying — save, oh, save thy son. 
Wilt thou not do it ! Tell me then who will ? 
God I have blasphemed — Christ I have reviled — 
I dare not pray for mercy, and am lost ! — 
What ails me, mother? I am whirling 'round ! 
What means this rattling? I have lost my sight ! 
Where am I ? I am falling. Hold me up, — 
I will not die, I dare not — Hold me fast ! ' ' 
And as the words, half uttered, died away, 
One last convulsive struggle closed the scene. 



SWEARING, 



THE PROFANE SWEARER. 



ONE cold morning in the winter of 1875, I took my seat 
in a stage in Greenville, Maine, which town is situated 
at the foot of Moosehead Lake. There were besides 
myself, I think, four other persons. Directly opposite .to me, 
was a young man, a stranger. We sat face to face, and near 
each other. As soon as we had taken our seats, he began to 
swear violently, and continued it incessantly. He did not 
appear to be intoxicated nor angry, and I could see no especial 
cause for his shocking profanity. He was very rough in his 
personal appearance and manners. As I heard his horrid 
oaths I felt sad, and asked myself the question, " Must I ride 
face to face with this young man, hour after hour, under such 
dreadful torrents of profanity, which are flowing continually 
from his mouth?" I thought, "No; I must reprove him." 
But then the question at once arose, "How shall I do it? If 
I do not do it in a kind and discreet manner, I shall do more 
harm than good; shall make a bad matter worse." 

I hope I sincerely looked to God to give me wisdom suita- 
ble for the occasion. But O! my Heavenly Father seemed 
to require me to humble myself very low to get into a proper 
situation to rightly rebuke this erring young man. I must 
confess that I had been guilty of the same sin that I was now 
about to reprove him for. 



320 SWEARING. 

I then calmly said to him, "My young friend, I want to tell 
you a short story." (This was the first time I had spoken to 
him.) He stopped swearing and listened in a respectful man- 
ner. I then proceeded as follows : 

"When I was about twelve years old, my father sent me 
into the pasture to get the oxen. It was a hot day. I found 
the oxen in the woods, and started them out toward home; 
but the weather was very hot, and the oxen dkl not like to 
leave the cool shade of the woods; as soon as I had driven 
them a few rods, they would quickly turn and run back. This 
they did again and again. I soon became vexed, and lost all 
my patience, and in my anger took my Maker's name in vain. 
It was my first oath, and blessed be God it was my last. But 
whenever I think of my wickedness in taking in vain the 
name of that great and good Being who created me, and has 
kept me alive all my life long, I am greatly ashamed of myself, 
and I hope sincerely sorry for that great sin of my boyhood 
days." 

He listened attentively to my story; and when I concluded, 
exclaimed : " Well, you have done well not to swear but once 
in all your life." 

I am happy to say that the young man swore no more. I 
have never seen him since, and where he is I know not. 



WARNINGS TO THE WICKED. 



THE following awful account is related of a man whose 
name shall be concealed, in tenderness to surviving 
relatives. He waited upon a magistrate near Hitchen, 
in the county of Hertford, and informed him he had been 
stopped by a young gentleman of Hitchen, who had knocked 
him down and searched his pockets; but not finding anything 
there, he suffered him to depart. The magistrate, astonished 
at this piece of intelligence, dispatched a messenger to the 
young gentleman, ordering him to appear immediately, and 
answer to the charge exhibited against him. The youth 



SWEARING. 321 

obeyed the summons, accompanied by his guardian and an 
intimate friend. Upon their arrival at the seat of justice, the 
accused and the accuser were confronted, when the magistrate 
hinted to the man, that he was fearful he had made the charge 
with no other view than that of extorting money, and bade 
him take care how he proceeded,- exhorting him in the most 
earnest and pathetic manner, to beware of the most dreadful 
consequences attending perjury. The man insisted upon mak- 
ing oath of what he had advanced. The oath was accord- 
ingly administered, and the business fully investigated, when 
the innocence of the young gentleman was established, he 
having, by the most incontrovertible evidence proved an alibi. 
The infamous wretch, finding his intention thus frustrated, 
returned home much chagrined, and meeting soon afterward 
with one of his neighbors, he declared that he had not sworn 
to anything but the truth, calling God to witness the same in 
the most solemn manner, and wished if it was not as he had 
said, his jaws might be locked, and that his flesh might rot 
upon his bones, when terrible to relate, his jaws were instantly 
locked, and the use of his faculties he had so awfully per- 
verted was denied him forever; and after lingering nearly a 
fortnight, he expired in the greatest agony, his flesh literally 
rotting from his bones. 



One day there happened a tremendous storm of lightning 
and thunder, as Archbishop Leighton was going from Glas- 
gow to Dunblane. He was descried, when at a distance, by 
two men of bad character. They had not the courage to rob 
him; but wishing to fall on some method of extorting money 
from him, one said, " I will lie down by the way-side, as if I 
were dead, and you shall inform the Archbishop that I was 
killed by lightning, and beg money of him to bury me." 
When the Archbishop arrived at the spot, the wicked wretch 
told him the fabricated story. He sympathized with him, and 
gave him money, and proceeded on his journey. But, when 
the man returned to his companion, he found him really life- 

U 



322 SWEARING. 

less. Immediately he began to exclaim aloud, " Oh, sir, he is 
dead ! Oh, sir, he is dead ! " On this, the Archbishop discov- 
ering the fraud, left the man with this important reflection, " It 
is a dangerous thing to trifle with the judgments of God." 



SIGNAL LIGHTS. 



I ONCE knew a sweet little girl called Mary. Her father 
was the captain of a big ship, and she sometimes went 
with him to sea; and it was on one of these trips that 
the following incident happened. 

One day she sat on a coil of rope watching old Jim clean 
the signal lights. 

"What are you doing?" she asked. 

"I am trimming the signal lamps, Miss," said old Jim. 

"What are they for?" asked Mary. 

"To keep other ships from running into us, Miss; if we do 
not hang out our lights, we might be wrecked." 

Mary watched him for some time, and then she ran away 
and seemed to forget all about the signal lights; but she did 
not, as was afterward shown. 

The next day she came and watched old Jim trim the 
lamps, and after he had seated her on the coil of rope, he 
turned to do his work. Just then the wind carried away one 
of his cloths, and old Jim began to swear awfully. 

Mary slipped from her place and ran into the cabin, but she 
soon came back and put a folded paper into his hand. 

Old Jim opened it, and there, printed in large letters — for 
Mary was too young to write — were these words: "Thou 
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the 
Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.* 

The old man looked into her face and asked, " What is this, 
Miss Mary?" 

" It is a signal light, please. I saw that a bad ship was run- 
ning against you, because you did not have your signal lights 
hung out, so I thought you had forgotten it," said Mary. 



SWEARING. 323 

Old Jim bowed his head and wept like a little child. At 
last he said, "You are right, Missy; I had forgotten it. My 
mother taught me that very commandment when I was no 
bigger than you; and for the future I will hang out my signal 
lights, for I might be quite wrecked by that bad ship, as you 
call those oaths." 

Old Jim has a large Bible now which Mary gave him, and 
on the cover he has printed, "Signal Lights for Souls bound 
to Heaven." 



INCIDENTS AND REFLECTIONS. 



IT has been observed that every visitation of the Lord to 
man, leaves him either better or worse than he was before. 
Those who learn the lessons intended to be taught, are 
benefitted thereby; but others are hardened and made more 
insensible to good. The author of "The Sure Mercies of 
David" records the experience of a friend: 

"When I was a young man it was the custom, and not 
thought ungentlemanlike, for men, when conversing with each 
other, to interlard their conversation with oaths and other 
expletives which would not be tolerated now; for in these 
days gentlemen, even if not under the power of the Gospel, 
do not swear. I was not an exception to my associates, and 
as I grew in years the habit became more confirmed; and 
when I lost my temper, my anger was expressed in this sense- 
less and unholy way. 

"I married, and had a farm and a large number of sheep. 
One beautiful summer evening we were going up the country 
to keep an engagement. Our boatmen were waiting for us, 
and we were on our way to embark, when I observed a fine 
ewe in a field of barley. Of course she had no right there, 
and was injuring the crop, so I opened the gate behind her, 
and going along so as to confront her, I sprang over the fence, 
and approaching her cautiously (for the field was large and I 
was afraid she might run), I endeavored to turn her out. But 
there she stood, regardless of all my exclamations and ges- 



324 SWEARING. 

tures, occasionally stamping her foot, as if impatient at being 
disturbed, and threatening to run at me. 

" There stood the sheep, a few yards from me, never having 
moved from the spot where I first found her, and looking as 
if she intended to give me some trouble. At last I lost all 
patience, and gave vent to my irritation in curses on her obsti- 
nacy. Maddened with rage, at last I exclaimed with an oath, 
'I wish you were dead T The words had hardly passed my 
lips when the fore legs of the ewe gave way, and she fell 
forward. I felt stunned as if struck dumb, and putting my 
hand to my head in terror and dismay, slowly realized the 
power of the living God, and thanked Him that His Spirit 
had withheld me from invoking the curse upon myself, as I 
had often done before, or it might perhaps have been as 
quickly answered. I walked forward and touched the poor 
animal. Her eye was glazed; she was not dying, but dead ! 

"I was struck by the awful solemnity of the immediate 
granting of a petition. I had no desire it should be so 
answered; but 'by terrible things in righteousness wilt Thou 
answer us, O God of our salvation?' 

" Quite unfitted for the entertainment to which we were 
going, the boat was countermanded, and we returned home 
sadly and silently. 

"Many years have elapsed since then, but from that day 
I ceased to be a blasphemer. I will not say that in an 
unguarded moment of irritation I never afterward used an 
oath, but I can say that I have often had to acknowledge His 
deliverance ; and many a day there rose, like a vision of the 
past, that bright summer evening, with the green upland and 
the blue sky, and the dead sheep at my feet. 

"As I have said this solemn and awful answer to the cry of 
the natural heart broke me of swearing. I believed in an 
ever-present God, and feared to offend Him." 

In the same work, is narrated a somewhat similar case of 
one whose impetuosity of temper often vented itself in an 
oath. He was conscious that it was an easily besetting sin, 
and was endeavoring to obtain the victory over it. He says : 



SWEARING. 325 

" I had a very fast little schooner yacht, in which my boys 
took great delight. We lived at some distance from the town, 
and our vessel was often in request, not only for pleasure and 
health-giving exercise, but for utility. One morning I had 
promised my sons to take them with me for a few days to the 
neighboring coast; but the weather was boisterous and uncer- 
tain. Toward the afternoon the wind moderated, so we went 
on board and sailed. 

"The breeze was still very fresh, and we were going fleetly 
through the waters. Suddenly the sheet of the foresail slip- 
ped, and was flapping about with great force. While trying to 
catch it, the rope struck me violently in the face, nearly knock- 
ing me down, and causing me great pain. In the irritation of 
the moment, I exclaimed with an oath, ' I wish the yacht was 
at the bottom ! ' The words had only escaped my lips, when 
remorse filled my heart. 

"Oh, what would I not have given to recall that terrible 
imprecation ! I turned me to the mercy-seat, and confessed 
my sin, and prayed the Lord to forgive the rash words, and 
spare me the answer I dreaded. 

"I feared, too, my boys had heard me, though I still cher- 
ished the hope that in the effort to secure the loosened sail, 
and the noise it made, and the excitement of the moment, my 
exclamation might have passed unnoticed. A terrible dread 
took possession of my whole being. I thought He would not 
allow us to reach the land, but that in His anger a leak or a 
sudden squall would send us to the bottom. I looked at my 
three boys, and my heart sank within me. 

" He was better to me than all ' my fears. By the time we 
made the anchorage the wind subsided, the sun was setting 
gloriously, and floods of golden light gleamed on the distant 
waters, as with a thankful heart I sprang on shore, and every 
soul that had sailed with me safe beside me. 

"After making the vessel secure, and taking all the usual 
precautions to ensure her safety, we left her. Before I went to 
rest I looked out again on the waters that but for the grace 
a*nd mercy of God would now have been our grave. All was 



326 SWEARING. 

calm and beautiful; the stars shone brightly. Everything was 
quiet but my troubled heart; there lay, like a leaden weight 
on my spirit, the words I had spoken. 

" Toward morning I fell asleep ; but I was awakened by a 
violent storm of rain that beat against the windows, while a 
tremendous wind shook the house, and rattled through every 
window-frame. Daylight broke, when a servant knocked at 
my door with the intelligence, 'The yacht is wrecked.' I 
sprang from my bed, and bade the boys arise and accompany 
me to see if anything could be done. The first thing I saw, 
at the end of the wharf, was one of her masts; and going a 
little further I saw her lying at the bottom. Not a particle of 
her above water, except the splinters of her deck and spars, 
which lay scattered in the dock. 

" I had not a word to say. I bowed my head in submission 
to His will, who, though He had not left me altogether 
unpunished, had tempered His judgment with so much mercy. 
Then and there, while looking down on that shapeless mass 
of wood and iron, we blessed the Lord for His goodness, and 
besought Him to set a watch upon our lips that we should 
never again speak fro ward things." 



An incident is related of a merchant, whose heart was sen- 
sible of religious impressions, but who was too desirous of 
accumulating wealth. He made a costly venture to aggrand- 
ize his fortune at once. He built and sent out a ship to a 
foreign market, with a cargo that promised a rich return ; and 
with high expectations awaited intelligence of ship and cargo. 
Time passed on, and no tidings of her fate ever reached him. 
When he found that she must have perished, and that his 
hopes of gain were lost, his eyes were opened to see that he 
had been unduly covetous, and he was led to supplicate the 
Father of mercies for deliverance from the temptation. 

His petition was heard and answered. Years rolled on' 
his ready hand was open to relieve others, even beyond his 
measure. His love of earthly gain was transferred to treas- 



SWEARING. 327 

ures in Heaven. His life was a living testimony, which grew 
brighter and brighter as his day went down. The Lord sud- 
denly called him to Himself. Without a struggle, without a 
sigh, he passed away, with a song of praise upon his lips. 



A TRUE INCIDENT. 



WHEN the Boston train came steaming into the depot 
the crowds rushed for seats. As a band of recruits 
mounted the platform, they shouted back to their 
friends who had accompanied them to the train, the various 
slang phrases they could command, interspersed with an oath 
now and then. As the train moved off they pushed each 
other into the car, where many ladies were seated, including a 
lady and her two boys. 

Then the oaths came out thick and fast, each one evidently 
trying to outdo the others in profanity. The lady shuddered 
for herself and for her boys, for she could not bear to have 
their young minds contaminated by such language. If the 
train had not been so crowded, she would have looked for 
seats elsewhere, but under the circumstances she was com- 
pelled to remain where she was. 

Finally, after this coarse jesting had continued for nearly an 
hour, a little girl, who with her mother sat in front of the 
party, stepped out timidly from her seat, and going up to the 
ringleader of the group, a young man whose countenance 
indicated considerable intelligence, she presented him with a 
small Bible. 

She was a little delicate-looking creature, only seven or 
eight years old, and as she laid the book in his hand she 
raised her soft eyes appealingly to his, but without a word 
went back to her seat. 

The party could not have been more completely hushed if 
an angel had silenced them. Not another oath was heard, 
and scarcely a word was spoken by any of them during the 
remainder of the journey. 



328 ' SWEARING. 

The young man who had received the book seemed particu- 
larly impressed. He got out of the car at the next station 
and purchased a paper of candy for his little friend, which he 
presented to her. He then stooped down and kissed her, and 
said he would always k£ep the little Bible for her sake. 

The little girl had been so troubled by the wickedness of 
those young men, that she could not rest until she had given 
her little Bible which she valued so highly herself. Every 
one who witnessed it, seemed to be affected by the little inci- 
dent, which perhaps by the blessing of God, may have led to 
the conversion of at least one soul. 

"A little child shall lead them." 



THE SWEARER REPROVED. 

ANECDOTE OF THE LATE ADMIRAL HOPE. 



AN anecdote has been related to us of Admiral Hope's 
Christian firmness in rebuking swearing and improper 
language uttered in his presence. Not many years 
back, a gentleman in a London omnibus was using very 
violent language — swearing and taking the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ in vain — when he was quietly rebuked and 
requested to desist by an elderly gentleman sitting opposite. 
The first named having resented the interference, the old 
officer added, "Well, sir, I am extremely sorry you resent my 
words, simply requesting you to forbear insulting a very dear 
and precious name, which I honor and love; and I can only 
say that, if you are dead to all feeling of consideration of 
common courtesy, and will persist in using the language you 
have done, you will compel me to do that which I shall be 
sorry to be obliged to do." Upon this the angry man broke 
out afresh, and defied him, when the Admiral stopped the 
omnibus, and got out, the other watching him, expecting he 
would call a policeman, &c; but, seeing him walk quietly 
away, he remarked to another rider about his impertinence, 
when the person' whom he addressed asked, if he knew who 



SWEARING. 329 

it was who had been induced to' remonstrate with him. He 
replied, " No, nor do I care, except that he was very imperti- 
nent for threatening me in that way." The other remarked 
that he was mistaken, for there had been no threat, but a meek 
and courteous remonstrance; that the gentleman was a most 
kind and benevolent man, and a gallant officer, who was quite 
incapable of any mean act. "What right had he to threaten 
me? Did he not say he would do something if I did not 
desist?" said the other. "Yes," replied the gentleman, "but 
that was no idle threat, and he did what he said he would be 
obliged to do." "And what was that ?" asked the angry man. 
"Why, get out and walk, which his age and infirmities will 
hardly allow him to do; and he spends a great part of his 
income in succoring the afflicted and the destitute, and so 
would not like to throw away even a sixpence." "You don't 
mean to say that was what he meant?" asked the angry man. 
"What is his name?" "I am quite positive it was all he 
meant," replied the other, " and his name is Admiral Hope— a 
true-hearted Christian man !" The angry man looked puzzled, 
then thoughtful, and last called out, "God forgive me ! what a 
fool I have been ! Give me his address, in case I should miss 
him." He stopped the omnibus and jumped out to seek his 
faithful reprover, adding that he hoped it would make a new 
man of him, for he should never forget the lesson to the last 
day of his life ! 

This anecdote was related by the gentleman himself, who 
became a humble follower of the Lord Jesus, but who has 
since gone to his rest, trusting only in that blessed* name 
which he had so blasphemed and lightly spoken of. There 
was another soul to whom this little incident had been so 
richly blest, that it sunk into his heart and sprung up to ever- 
lasting life, 



LYING. 



THE TRUTH AT ALL HAZARDS. 



SOME time after the beginning of the present century, 
there were living in a busy country town in the North, 
a pious couple who had an only son. For the son they 
daily prayed to God; and what they asked in their prayers 
was that God would enable him to lay in his young heart, 
among the first lessons he should learn, the love of all things 
honest and good. So the foundations of an upright life were 
laid in the boy's heart, and among these very especially a 
regard for uprightness and truth. 

In the course of years the boy's schooldays were ended, 
and also his apprenticeship to a business life in a country 
town; and, as there was no prospect for him there, he came 
up to England, to one of the great seaports, and by and by 
he got a good position in a merchant's office. He was greatly 
pleased with his new office, and wrote to his father and mother 
that Providence had been very kind to him, and had opened 
up to him an excellent place. 

But he was not long in this excellent place before he was 
put to the test in a very painful way with respect to the les- 
sons he had received about truth. It was part of the business 
of that office to have ships coming and going. And it was 
the rule, when a ship came into port, that its captain sent 
word to the office that he had arrived, and was now waiting 
instructions where to discharge the cargo; and it was the 



332 L YING. 

duty of the manager of the office to send back instructions to 
the captain where and when this was to be done. A few 
months after this little lad from the North came to the office, 
a ship laden with coal came in, and the usual message from 
the captain came; but, somehow or other, no answer was sent 
to him. The captain waited a week, and still no word came 
back. Now, that was very hard on the captain. Until his 
ship got free of cargo, it had to lie idle in the dock; and all 
who belonged to the ship were kept idle too. So, at the end 
of a week, the captain sent word to the office, that his ship 
had been kept so long waiting for instructions where to dis- 
charge its cargo, that it had missed a good offer of a new 
cargo, and the office would have to pay him for the loss. 
This payment is called " demurrage." 

When the manager of the office got this message from the 
captain, he was very angry. He thought he had sent instruc- 
tions where to discharge the cargo, or he made himself believe 
he had sent them. At any rate he sent for the little lad from 
the North, and said to him, " Didn't I send you down to Cap- 
tain Smith with instructions to discharge his coal ? " 

The little lad said, "No, sir; I do not remember being sent 
down." "Oh, but I did," answered the manager. "You have 
forgotten." And there for a time, so far as the office was 
concerned, the matter was allowed to rest 

But the captain did not intend to let it rest there. He 
applied for his demurrage. And when that was refused, and 
his word that he had received no instructions was disbelieved, 
he took the master of the office to law. And, by and by, his 
complaint came before the judges in the court of law. 

The day before the trial the manager came to the little lad 
from the North, and said to him, " Mind, I sent you to the 
dock with those instructions to discharge the coal." 

" But, I assure you, I cannot remember your doing so," said 
the lad 

"Oh, yes, but I did. You have forgotten." It was a great 
trouble to the lad. He had never been sent to the dock. He 
could not say he had been sent; and he foresaw that he would 



L YING. 333 

have to say before the judges what would certainly offend the 
manager and lead to the loss of his excellent place. 

On the morning of the trial he went to the court The 
manager came up to him and said, " Now our case depends on 
you. Remember, I sent you to the dock with the instructions 
to discharge the coal." 

The poor lad tried once more to assure the manager that he 
was mistaken, but he would not listen. 

" It is all right," he said hastily. I sent you on such a day, 
and you have got to bear witness that I did — and see you say 
it clearly." 

In a little while he was called into the witness-box, and 
almost the first question put to him was whether he remem- 
bered the day when Captain Smith's ship came in. And then 
this : " You remember during that day being sent by the man- 
ager of the office to the dock with a letter for the captain ?" 

" No, sir." 

"Don't -you remember taking instructions to Captain Smith 
to discharge his coal ? " 

" No, sir." 

" Were you not sent by the manager of your office to the 
coal-ship on that day?" 

" I was not, sir." 

"Nor next day?" 

"No." 

' Nor any other day ? " 

" No." 

The gentleman who put the questions was a barrister. He 
had been engaged by the manager to win the case for them. 
But, when he heard the little lad's replies, he saw that the 
manager was in the wrong; and he turned to the judge, and 
said, "My lord, I give up this case. My instructions were 
that this witness would prove that a message to discharge had 
been sent to Captain Smith, and it is plain that no such proof 
is to Be got from him." 

So the case ended in the captain's favor, and against the 
office in which the little lad had found so excellent a place. 



334 L YING. 

He went to his lodgings with a sorrowful heart, and wrote 
to his father and mother that he was sure to be dismissed. 
Then he packed his Jrunk to be ready to go home the next 
day; and in the morning, expecting nothing but his dismissal, 
he went early to the office. The first to come in after him 
was the master. He stopped for a moment at the little lad's 
desk, and said, "We lost our case yesterday." 

"Yes, sir," answered the lad; and I am very sorry I had to 
say what I did." 

By and by the manager came in ; and, after a little time, he 
was sent for to the master's room. It was a long while before 
he came out. The little lad was sent for. " I am going to be 
dismissed," he thought to himself. But he was not dismissed. 
The master said to him, naming him, " I was angry yesterday, 
but not with you. You did right to speak the truth; and, to 
mark my approval of what you did, I am going to put you in 
charge of all the workings and sales of our Glenfardle mine." 
Then he sent for the manager, and told him what he had said, 
and added, "And the young man will make his reports direct 
to me." 

In six months after the manager left the office; and, young 
though he was, the little lad was appointed to his place. And, 
before many years had past, he was admitted as junior partner 
in the firm; and he is now at the head of the entire business 
— the managing partner. 

In this case the truth was the best. But I want to say that, 
if things had turned out other than they did, and he had been 
dismissed, it would still have been the best for him to speak 
the truth. 



LIE NEVER. 



NOT long ago, on an English steamer, four days out from 
Liverpool, a small boy was found hid away behind the 
cargo. He had neither father nor mother, brother nor 
sister, friend nor protector, among either passengers or crew. 
Who was he? Where did he come from? Where going? 



LYING. 335 

Only nine years old; the poor little stranger, with ragged 
clothes but a beautiful face, full of innocence and truth ! Of 
course he was carried before the first mate. 

"How came you to steal a passage on board this ship?" 
asked the mate sharply. 

"My stepfather put me in," answered the boy; "he said he 
could not afford to keep me nor to pay my passage to Halifax, 
where my aunt lives. I want to go to my aunt." 

The mate did not believe the story. He had often been 
deceived by stowaways. Almost every ship finds, one or two 
days out at sea, men or boys concealed among the cargo, who 
try to get a passage across the water without paying for it. 
And this is often troublesome and expensive. The mate sus- 
pected some of the sailors had a hand in the boy's escape, and 
treated him pretty roughly. Day after day he was questioned 
about his coming, and it was always the same story — nothing 
less, nothing more. At last the mate got out of patience, as 
mates will, and seizing him by the collar, told him unless he 
confessed the truth, in ten minutes, he would hang him on the 
yard arm — a frightful threat indeed. 

Poor child, without a friend to stand by him ! Around him 
were passengers and sailors of the mid-day watch, and before 
him the stern first officer, with his watch in hand, counting 
the tick, tick, tick of the minutes as they swiftly went. There 
he stood, pale and sorrowful, his head erect, and tears in his 
eyes ; but afraid ? — no, not a bit ! 

Eight minutes were already gone. 

" Only two minutes more to live," cried the mate. " Speak 
the truth and save your life, boy." 

"May I pray?" asked the child, looking into the hard 
man's face. 

The officer nodded his head, but said nothing. The brave 
boy knelt down on deck, and, with hands clasped and eyes 
raised to heaven, repeated the Lord's prayer, and then prayed 
the dear Lord Jesus to take him home to heaven. He could 
die ; but lie — never ! All eyes were turned toward him, and 
sobs broke from stern hearts. 



336 L YING. 

The mate could hold out no longer. He sprang to the boy, 
told him he believed* his story, every word of it. A nobler 
sight never took place on a ship's deck than this — a poor 
unfriended child, willing to face death for truth's sake. 

He could die; but lie — never! God bless him! And the 
rest of the voyage, you may well think, he had friends 
enough. Nobody owned him before; everybody was now 
ready to do him a kindness. And everybody who reads this 
will be strengthened to do right, come what will, by the noble 
conduct of this dear child. 



STEALING. 



A THIEF CAUGHT IN HIS OWN SNARE. 



ONCE when engaged in religious service among strangers, 
in one of our Eastern States, I was taken to a family 
about whom there had been nothing said, and on enter- 
ing the house I had a clear presentiment by the Holy Spirit 
that the husband was given to stealing. I was startled at this 
revelation and clear insight into his condition and danger, and 
felt it to be a trial to speak to him. But it was for this very 
end that my Heavenly Father had called me, and how could I 
be true to the manifestation of His will and that unerring 
guide that never misleads His children. It was a great strug- 
gle, for while "the spirit is willing the flesh is weak." But 
the same blessed Holy Spirit that had shown me his guilt, 
helped me to speak plainly to him respecting the character 
and consequence of his sin, and that he could not escape the 
condemnation of men nor the judgment of the Almighty. 
And I urged him to repent and seek forgiveness, and be 
reconciled unto God and make amends with the church and 
those whom he might have injured. The occasion was most 
solemn and impressive as I spoke, and prayed God to deliver 
him from the power of temptation and the snare of the devil. 
After leaving the house, we went to another family a mile or 
more distant; the friend who accompanied me stated that he 
was then under dealing of the church for that very thing. 



338 STEALING. 

On arriving at the house to which we were going, and after 
getting through, as I* thought, with the thief, I had a similar 
presentiment at this last mentioned place, so clear and unex- 
pected, that I trembled like a leaf with the thought of a repe- 
tition of that service on the sin of stealing. I was strongly 
tempted to believe that this was only the impression of my 
former exercise still on my mind. There were none present 
but the husband and his wife, and they nice appearing Friends, 
and for a little while I felt like the apostle, to be in a strait. 
But as I waited on God for a stronger confirmation that it was 
the leading of the Spirit, the presentiment grew clearer until I 
was compelled to speak. And I addressed them plainly on 
the character and guilt of stealing, and it was almost a repeti- 
tion of my service at the other house, and I stated that there 
was some one in their house or family guilty before God con- 
cerning this matter and warned them of the consequence, and 
exhorted them to turn unto the Lord and repent and live. 
After leaving the house, the friend with me stepped one side 
with the husband to inquire what this meant, thinking that I 
had been misled in speaking to them, as they were well- 
esteemed in the church and none such in their family. But 
he assured my friend that it was all right, and that I had been 
led by the Spirit to speak in a remarkable manner. That his 
brother-in-law, from whose house we had but just come, the 
man whom I first addressed on stealing, had hurried across 
the field and got in ahead of us, and requested the privilege 
of sitting in an adjacent room with the door ajar and hear 
what I had to say, and that my message was for him and most 
appropriate to his condition, and that he must have heard 
every word that was said. And so the poor man was caught 
in his own snare and got a double portion. 

Now I wish to impress upon the mind of the reader of this 
narrative, the great benefit and blessed privilege of being led 
and comforted by the Holy Spirit. For our Saviour taught 
us, saying: "I am the light of the world; he that followeth 
Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life." 
"And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before 



STEALING. 339 

them and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice." 
And He will guide us in all service to the glory of God, and 
bless our efforts in the spread of our Redeemer's kingdom. 

"With purpose strong and steady in the Great Jehovah's name, 
We rise to snatch our kindred from the depths of woe and shame; 
With Almighty hands to help us we have faith to do and dare, 
While confiding in the promise that the Lord will answer prayer." 



JOHN KANE AND THE ROBBERS. 



JOHN KANE was the name of a good man who once 
lived in Poland, where he taught and preached. It was 
his rule always to suffer wrong rather than to do wrong 
to others. One night as he was riding through a dark wood, 
he all at once found himself at the mercy of a band of rob- 
bers. He got down from his horse, and said to the gang that 
he would give up to them all he had about him. He then 
gave them a purse filled with silver coins, a gold chain from 
his neck, a ring from his finger, and from his pocket a book 
of prayer with silver clasps. 

" Have you given us all ? " cried the robber chief in a stern 
voice ; " have you no more money ? " 

The old man in his confusion said he had given them all 
the money he had, and when he said this they let him go. 
Glad to get off so well, he went quickly on and was soon out 
of sight. But all at once the thought came to him that he 
had some gold pieces stitched into the hem of his robe. 
These he had quite forgotten when the robbers had asked him 
if he had any more money. 

"This is lucky," thought John Kane; for he saw that the 
money would bear him home to his friends, and that he would 
not have to beg his way, or suffer for want of food and shelter. 
But John's conscience was a tender one, and he stopped to 
listen to its voice. It seemed to cry to him in earnest tones : 

"Tell not a lie! tell not a lie!" 

These words would not let him rest. 



340 STEALING. 

Some men would say that such a promise made to thieves 
need not be kept, and few men would have been troubled after 
such an escape. But John did not stop to reason. He went 
back to the place where the robbers stood, and walking up to 
them, meekly said: 

" I have told you what is not true. I did not mean to do 
so, but fear confused me — so pardon me." 

With these words he held forth the pieces of gold; but, to 
his surprise, not one of the robbers would take them. A 
very strange feeling was at work in their hearts. These men, 
bad as they were, could not laugh at the pious old man. 

"Thou shalt not steal," said a voice within them. 

All were deeply moved. Then, as if touched by a common 
feeling, one of the robbers gave back the old man's purse; 
another his gold chain; another his ring; another his book of 
prayer; and still another led up his horse, and assisted the old 
man to remount. 

Then all the robbers, as if quite ashamed of having thought 
of harming so good an old man, went up and asked his bless- 
ing. John Kane gave it with a devout feeling, and then rode 
on his way, thanking God for so strange an escape. 



THE CLERGYMAN AND THE BURGLAR. 



THE world of fiction hardly contains a more thrilling 
chapter than an incident which marked the life of Mr. 
Lee, who was recently cut down in his 'prime while 
pastor of the Presbyterian Church in the village of Waterford, 
New York. The adventure, says The Troy Times, occurred 
on the night before Thanksgiving, a few weeks previous to 
the commencement of the sudden illness which resulted sadly 
and fatally. Mr. Lee was sitting in his study about one 
o'clock in the morning, preparing a discourse to be delivered 
to his congregation when assembled for Thanksgiving wor- 
ship, when he heard a noise behind him, and became conscious 
that somebody was in the room. Supposing a neighbor had 



STEALING. 341 

dropped in on some unforeseen errand, Mr. Lee said, "What 
is the matter?" and turned around in his chair. He beheld 
the grim face of a burglar, who was pointing a pistol at his 
breast. The ruffian had entered the house by a side window, 
supposing that all the occupants were wrapped in slumber, 
and burst upon the presence of Mr. Lee before he was aware 
that the study contained an occupant. " Give me your watch 
and money," said he, "and make no noise, or I will fire." 

Mr. Lee said, "You may as well put down your weapon, 
for I shall make no resistance, and you are at liberty to take 
all the valuables I possess." 

The burglar withdrew his menacing pistol, and Mr. Lee 
said, " I will conduct you to the place where my most precious 
treasures are placed." He opened a door and pointed to a 
cot, where his two children lay slumbering in the sweet sleep 
of innocence and peace. "These," said he, "are my choicest 
jewels. Will you take them ? " He proceeded to say that, 
as a minister of the Gospel, he had few earthly possessions, 
and that all his means were devoted to one object — the educa- 
tion of the two children who were reposing in the adjoining 
room. The burglar was deeply and visibly affected by these 
remarks. Tears filled his eyes, and he expressed the utmost 
sorrow at the act he had been about to commit. After a few 
remarks from Mr. Lee, the would-be criminal consented to 
kneel and join with him in prayer; and there, in that lonely 
house, amid the silence of midnight, the offender poured forth 
his penitence and remorse, while the representative of a 
religion of peace and good-will told him to "go and sin no 
more." Such a scene has few parallels. 

On the conclusion of the prayer, the burglar attempted to 
take his departure by the broken window through which he 
had entered. "Why not go by the front door?" said Mr. Lee. 

The man replied, " There are confederates there who would 
shoot either you or me." 

He desired Mr. Lee to take an oath on the Holy Scriptures 
never to reveal the particulars of this single interview. Mr. 
Lee said it was unnecessary, as he had the kindest feelings 



342 STEALING. 

toward him, and should never divulge aught he had seen or 
heard. The next day, Mr. Lee, while walking with his wife, 
met the man in the street of Waterford, and on subsequent 
occasions saw him from time to time. 

One of the actors in this singular episode fills an early 
grave; but by means that we are not at liberty to disclose, 
the event did not die with him. What must be the feeling of 
the other party to this mysterious meeting, whenever he 
reflects upon the lonely parsonage, and the memorable scene 
that it witnessed on the night before Thanksgiving, 1 862. 



THE LADY AND THE ROBBER. 



IN a large, lone house, situated in the south of England, 
there once lived a lady and her two maid-servants. They 
were away from any human habitation, but they seemed 
to have felt no fear, and to have dwelt there peacefully and 
happily. It was the lady's custom to go round the house 
with her maids every evening, to see that all the windows and 
doors were properly secured. 

One night she had accompanied them as usual, and ascer- 
tained that all was safe. They left her in the passage, close to 
her room, and then went to their own, which was quite at the 
other side of the house. As the lady opened her door, she 
distinctly saw a man underneath her bed. What could she 
do ? Her servants were far away, and could not hear her if 
she screamed for help; and even if they had come to her 
assistance, those three weak women were no match for a des- 
perate house-breaker. How, then, did she act? She trusted 
in God. Quietly she closed the door, and locked it on the 
inside, which she was always in the habit of doing. She then 
leisurely brushed her hair, and putting on her gown, she took 
her Bible and sat down to read. She read aloud, and chose a 
chapter which had special reference to God's watchfulness 
over us, and constant care of us by day and night, (probably 
the ninety-first Psalm). When it was finished, she knelt and 



STEALING. 343 

prayed at great length, still uttering her words aloud, particu- 
larly commending herself and servants to God's protection, 
and dwelling upon their utter helplessness and dependence 
upon Him to preserve them from all dangers. 

At last she rose from her knees, put out her candle, and 
went to bed ; but she did not sleep. After a few minutes she 
was conscious the man was standing by her bedside. He 
addressed her and told her not to be alarmed. 

"I came here," said he, "to rob you; but after the words 
you have read, and the prayer you have uttered, no power on 
earth could induce me to hurt you, or touch a thing in your 
house. But you must remain perfectly quiet and not attempt 
to interfere with me. I shall now give a signal to my com- 
panions, which they will understand, and then will go away, 
and you may sleep in peace, for I give you my solemn word 
that no one shall harm you, and not the smallest thing belong- 
ing to you shall be disturbed." 

He then went to the window, opened it, and whistled softly. 
Returning to the lady's bedside, who had not spoken or 
moved, he said: 

"Now I am going. Your prayer has been heard, and no 
harm will befall you." 

He left the room, and soon all was quiet, and the lady fell 
asleep, still upheld by that calm and beautiful faith and trust. 

When the morning dawned, and she awoke, we may feel 
sure that she poured out her thanksgiving and praise to Him 
who had "defended" her under "his wings," and "kept" her 
"safe under his feathers," so that she was not afraid of any 
terror by night. 

The man proved true to his word, and not a thing in her 
house was taken. Oh, shall we not hope that his heart was 
changed from that day forth, and that he forsook his evil 
courses, and cried to that Saviour "who came to seek and to 
save that which was lost," and, even on the cross, did not 
reject the penitent thief! 

From this true story let us learn to put our whole trust and 
confidence in God. This lady's courage was indeed most 



344 STEALING. 

wonderful, but "the Lord was her defense upon her right 
hand," and with him all things were possible. — Monthly Packet 
for October. 

We have received an extract from a letter fully corrobora- 
ting the remarkable anecdote of " The Lady and the Robber," 
in our October number, and adding some facts that enhance 
the wonder and mercy of her escape. We quote the words 
of the letter: 

" In the first place, the robber told her if she had given the 
slightest alarm and token of resistance, he was fully deter- 
mined to murder her; so that it was really God's guidance 
that told her to follow the course she did. Then, before he 
went away, he said, 'I never heard such words before; I must 
have the book you read out of;' and carried off the Bible, 
willingly enough given, you may be sure. This happened 
many years ago, and only comparatively recently did the lady 
hear any more of him. She was attending a religious meet- 
ing in Yorkshire, where, after several noted clergymen and 
others had spoken, a man arose, stating that he was one of 
the book-hawkers of the Society, and told the story of the 
midnight adventure, as a testimony to the wonderful power 
of the Word of God. He concluded with, ' I am that man.' 
The lady arose from her seat in the hall, and quietly said, 
'It is all quite true; I am the lady,' and sat down again." — 
Monthly Packet for December. 



TOBACCO 



EFFECTS OF THE USE OF TOBACCO. 



DOCTOR HIGGINBOTTOM, of Nottingham, England, 
says: "After fifty years of most extensive and varied 
practice in my profession, I have come to the decision 
that smoking is a main cause of ruining our young men, 
pauperizing the working men, and rendering comparatively 
useless the best efforts of ministers of the Gospel." 

"Smoking," says Dr. Copeland, "weakens the digestive 
function; impairs the due elaboration of the chyle, and of the 
blood, and prevents a healthy nutrition of the structure of the 
body; generates thirst and vital depression. To remove these, 
the use of stimulating liquors is resorted to, and often carried 
to a most injurious extent Thus, two of the most debasing 
habits and vices to which human nature can be degraded, are 
indulged in to the shortening of life, and to the injury and 
ruin of posterity." 

Dr. Budget says, "Tobacco is a poison, and a poison of a 
most virulent and terrible character. I do not know of a 
more certain and destructive poison in the vegetable king- 
dom." This poisonous principle contained in tobacco is called 
nicotine, and as one hundred pounds of tobacco contains 
about five pounds of this virulent poison, a few drops of 
which will destroy life, it has been estimated that there is 
enough nicotine contained in one year's crop of tobacco to 
destroy every living creature on the face of the Globe. 



346 TOBACCO. 

* 

There is another view that very few young persons take 
who are in the daily use of this injurious article, and that is, 
if they spend only three cents per day for cigars and tobacco, 
commencing when ten years of age, and continue the practice 
until they are sixty years old, the money so spent, if put out 
at interest, would amount to three thousand, one hundred and 
eighty-nine dollars; and if three cents per day be added to 
quench the thirst occasioned by the use of tobacco, the 
amount then lost would be six thousand, three hundred and 
seventy-eight dollars. A clever little sum to lean on in old 
age had it been saved and put out at interest. 



AN ORIGINAL ANECDOTE FOR STUDENTS. 



MY father, whose name was Donald Fraser, and his neigh- 
bor, William Fraser, were very intimate, and as much 
together as was consistent with their occupation, they 
being both industrious farmers. My father was nearly seventy 
years of age, and his friend William was several years his 
senior. Both were Highland Scotchmen from Inverness-shire, 
and, as is the case with so many of their countrymen, both 
were devotees of the pipe and the tobacco-quid from their 
youth up. A quarter of a century before, they had both from 
conscientious motives, given up their dram, as they called it, 
my father leading in that movement, and persuading his friend 
to follow. They never were what would be called intemperate ; 
but from that time forth they were total abstainers from all 
intoxicants. They were both godly men, and most of their 
conversation was on topics of religious experience. 

One night, at my father's house, during their chatting they 
commenced filling their pipes, and William Fraser, turning 
thoughtfully to my father and tapping the bowl of his pipe 
with the handle of his tobacco knife, exclaimed, "Donald, 
what do you think of this smoking and chewing business ? " 

My father shrewdly answered by asking another question, 
and said, "What do you think of it yourself, William?" 



TOBACCO. 347 

William replied, " Donald, we say we are Christians ; and if 
we are Christians, we are 'free men in Christ Jesus.' Now, 
Donald, when we are doing this thing, and we can nae quit it, 
are we free ? " 

" Do you think yourself we are ? " replied my father. 

"I am nae sure o' it," said William, who retained much 
more of the Scoth dialect than did my father. 

"And see here," said my father : " What we spit around and 
burn into smoke, of this nasty stuff, costs us nearly as much 
money as we give to the Master's cause. Is this right?" 

"Do you think, Donald," says William, "that if we could 
quit it, we could do more for Christ?" 

Both then with one impulse, suiting the action to the words, 
said, "Let us put the things up, then;" and both, rising to 
their feet, laid the pipes and the tobacco on the mantel-piece, 
where they lay for many a long day. 

These two men of God never smoked nor chewed again. 



A BAD FIRE. 



a 



TONES, have you heard of the fire that burned up the 
man's house and lot?" 



J 



"No, Smith, where was it?" 

" Here, in the city." 

"What a misfortune to him ! Was it a good house?" 

"Yes, a nice house and lot — a good home for any family." 

"What a pity ! How did the fire take ?" 

"The man played with the fire and thoughtlessly set it 
himself." 

"How silly! Did you say the lot was burned, too?" 

" Yes, lot and all ; all gone, slick and clean." 

"That is singular. It must have been a terrible hot fire — 
and then I don't see how it could have burned the lot." 

"No, it was not a very hot fire. Indeed, it was so small 
that it attracted but little attention, and did not alarm any- 
body." 



348 TOBACCO. 

* 

"But how could such a little fire burn up a house and lot? 
You haven't told me." 

"It burned a long time — more than twenty years. And 
though it seemed to consume very slowly, yet it wore away 
about one hundred and fifty dollars' worth every year, till it 
was all gone." 

"I can't understand you yet. Tell me where the fire was 
kindled and all about it." 

"Well, then, it was kindled in the end of a cigar. The 
cigar cost him, he, himself, told me, twelve and a half dollars 
per month, or one hundred and fifty dollars a year, and that in 
twenty-one years would amount to $3,150, besides all the 
interest. Now the money was worth at least ten per cent, 
and at that rate it would double once in about every seven 
years. So that the whole sum would be more than $20,000. 
That would buy a fine house and lot in any city. It would 
pay for a large farm in the country. Don't you pity the 
family of a man who has slowly burned up their home?" 

The boys had better never set a fire which costs so much, 
and which, though so easily put out, is yet so likely, if once 
kindled, to keep burning all their lives. 



TOBACCO. 



WILLIAM BRAY thus relates his own experience as to 
the use of tobacco : " I had been a smoker as well as 
a drunkard, and I used to love my tobacco as much 
as I loved my meat, and I would rather go down into the 
mine without my dinner than without my pipe. In the days 
of old, the Lord spoke by the mouths of His servants, the 
prophets; now He speaks to us by the Spirit of His Son. I 
had not only the feeling part of religion, but I could hear the 
small, still voice within speaking to me. When I took the 
pipe to smoke, it would be applied within, ' It is an idol, a lust, 
worship the Lord with clean lips! So I felt it was not right 
to smoke. The Lord also sent a woman to convince me. I 



TOBACCO. 349 

was one day in a house, and I took out my pipe to light it at 
the fire, and Mary Hawke — for that was the woman's name — 
said, ' Do you not feel it is wrong to smoke ? ' I said I felt 
something inside me telling me it is an idol, a lust; and she 
said that was the Lord. Then I said, ' Now I must give it up, 
for the Lord is telling me of it inside, and the woman outside.' 
There and then, I took the tobacco out of my pocket and 
threw it into the fire, and put the pipe under my foot, ' ashes 
to ashes, dust to dust.' And I have not smoked since. I 
found it hard to break off old habits; but I cried to the Lord 
for help, and He gave me strength, for He has said, ' Call upon 
me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee.' The day 
after I gave up smoking, I had the toothache so bad I did not 
know what to do. I thought this was owing to giving up the 
pipe, but I said I would never smoke again if I lost every 
tooth in my head. I said, 'Lord, Thou hast told us, 'My 
yoke is easy, and my burden is light,' and when I said that, 
all the pain left me. Sometimes the thought of the pipe 
would come back to me very strong; but the Lord strength- 
ened me against the habit; and, bless His name, I have not 
smoked since." 

More than twenty years after he had abandoned smoking, 
he said, "God has just given me enough to pay my way 
through life, and nothing for the pipe. If I had spent only 
sixpence a week on the pipe, I should have been about thirty 
pounds in debt." 



TOBACCO CURE. 



I INHERITED the appetite for tobacco and rum. I do not 
remember when I first began the use of the former, but 
it was at a very early age, and I continued it until I was 
twenty-nine years of age, at which time the habit had grown 
upon me so, that I verily thought it would kill me to abandon 
it. I chewed, smoked and snuffed. I used one pound of the 
strongest tobacco that I could find every week, and I often 



350 , TOBACCO. 

remarked that I would rather live on one meal a day than 
give up my tobacco. Five years ago I was convicted of sin 
and brought to the foot of the cross, and although I was in 
equal bondage to rum (I don't wish to tell experience on that 
line now) that I was to tobacco, and was otherwise depraved 
and in great moral darkness, the blessed Lord flashed light 
in on my benighted soul, and, while pleading for mercy, it 
was shown that I must part with my idol tobacco with the 
rest of my sins. The enemy was right on hand to tell me 
that I could not quit, and if I did, it would either kill me 
or run me crazy; but I said, "I am after eternal life, and I 
am ready to lay down my life here, if needs be, to find it." 
This tobacco habit stood right betwixt me and my God, 
for I knew that he wanted a clean people.. I remembered 
that somewhere the apostle said, "Cleanse yourself from all 
filthiness of the flesh," and I believe he meant what he said. 
But I knew nothing about exercising faith for immediate 
cleansing, but I said, "By the grace of God I will quit this 
filthy habit, and I put it from me and said, " Now, if I die, I 
will die striving to do right." But I did not die, but to my 
joy in three or four days I began to feel the bands break and 
I became free. Words fail to express the joy, gladness and 
thankfulness my heart has experienced since then, and now I 
can appreciate the text, "Whosoever the Son makes free is 
free indeed." 



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